Market update: US equities post their strongest weekly gain since June

On Friday, US equities posted their strongest weekly gain since June, lifted by positive news coming from both sides of the Atlantic. Growing confidence among investors that a fiscal cliff deal would be reached in Washington and signs that Greece might be closer to an agreement with its international creditors, led the Dow Jones to advance by 1.4% and the S&P 500 to add 1.3% in a shorter session. In addition, the positive sentiment was fuelled by Germany’s Ifo business sentiment survey which ended a series of six consecutive declines and registered a gain in November.

The markets in Asia started the week in a mixed mood with the Hang Seng down 0.2% and the Nikkei rising 0.2%. In Europe, equities are down in the early morning session after pro-independence parties gained support in the regional elections in Catalonia, Spain. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 and FTSE 100 are both down 0.2% at the time of writing.