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US Markets at 4 year highs

Markets were broadly higher today, again in thin trade as hopes for ECB intervention propelled stocks, despite previous comments from the ECB and senior German politicians warning against this sort of speculation. High beta stocks, i.e. those whose moves are more volatile than the market average, rallied, with banks across Europe posting gains of up to 5% in some cases. The yields on Spanish and Italian banks, which have fallen dramatically in recent weeks, continued their contraction, following a decent result in a Spanish bond auction today. Oil and the Euro, both considered “risk assets” made modest gains.

Sentiment was also helped by the much anticipated publication of the US Federal Reserve’s latest minutes, which will be published tomorrow. The market is hoping for further evidence, or hints towards, more monetary easing.

The FTSE 100 put on 33 points or 0.6% to finish at 5857, led higher by miners and banking stocks. Indices in the US put on modest gains, hovering near 4 year highs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James .