The markets got off to a good start on Friday morning, with the FTSE 100 trading up 0.4 percent higher in early trading.
The FTSE 250 is also trading up, with the positive sentiment spreading across Europe. The DAX is soaring, up 2.54 percent, with Spain’s IBEX 35 up 0.35 percent and the CAC40 up 0.40 percent
According to Fiona Cincotta, Senior Market Analyst at City, European markets have been defying the trend set by US stocks.
“Concerns over the fallout of the US-China trade war have seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average close down for eight consecutive sessions while the Nasdaq sank 0.9 percent on Thursday, the biggest single-day fall since April.
“The pound is 0.42 percent stronger against the dollar building on a 1% increase late Thursday as the Bank of England voted to keep rates unchanged. Although the rate decision was not a surprise the unexpected hawkish vote ended up giving sterling a boost.”
The FTSE is being aided by rising oil shares. BP (LON:BP) and Shell are up 0.3 percent, reflecting higher prices for crude oil.
Iran is looking set to scupper Opec’s oil agreement, having said it was unlikely to agree to boost oil production with the group.
Saudi Arabia and non-Opec Russia want to raise production by 1 million barrels per day after calls from the US, China and India to lower the price of crude oil. However, US sanctions on Iran could push down their output.
