Market Update: Stocks rise on both sides of the Atlantic on improving China data – 09.08.2013

August 9, 2013
|In Global Round Ups
|By Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors

 Source: Henderson Global Investors

 

Wall Street was back in the black on Thursday, ending a three-day losing streak. Brushing aside monetary stimulus withdrawal symptoms, investors were buoyed by news that Chinese exports and imports improved substantially in July. Another positive was the latest US weekly jobless claims, which came in at 333,000, lower than the market forecast for 335,000. In corporate earnings news, Bloomberg reports that 72% of S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beaten profit forecasts, while 56% have topped sales estimates. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones gained 0.4% and 0.2% respectively yesterday. 

This morning the FTSE Eurofirst 300 and FTSE 100 are on the rise, gaining 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. Positivity is being driven by data releases from China, which could signal that the Chinese slowdown is moderating. Inflation rose by 2.7% year-on-year in July, less than generally expected while July industrial output grew by 9.7%, also better than forecast by the markets.