Market update: US markets plummet then recover after false news tweet – 24.04.2013

Source: Henderson Global Investors

Overnight, Wall Street closed higher (S&P 500 +1.0%, Dow Jones +1.1%). Stocks experienced a momentary sell-off in the early afternoon after a false news headline on Twitter from the Associated Press reported two explosions at the White House. In stock news, shares in the US technology company Apple alternated between gains and losses in after-market trading. Investors were cheered by the company’s agreement to boost its share buyback programme by $55bn but were soured by its forecasts for the next quarter.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 and the FTSE Eurofirst 300 have opened up this morning, gaining 0.2% and 0.3% respectively at the time of writing. Financial stocks were in focus in London as the earnings season for banks began. Shares in Barclays rose 2.1% despite first-quarter profit falling 25% due to restructuring costs. Investors were somewhat unperturbed by the collapse of the Lloyds’ branch disposal deal with the Co-Op. with Lloyds’ shares gaining 1.6%. Meanwhile, the Bank of England expanded its Funding for Lending Scheme to the start of 2015. The scheme provides banks with cheaper loans to incentivise more lending.