Investors are getting used to living in strange times as stocks and shares in London regained this week’s heavy losses from previous sessions with little change in prevailing reasons for the sell-off.
Oil prices improved but are likely to remain uninspiring until producers turn the taps off at their wells and let equilibrium return to the market.
A barrel of Brent crude was up 6.1% to $20.51, while in the US a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude floated up 21% to $14.
UK inflation figures were published showing a 0.2% drop from 1.7% in February to 1.5% in March.
FTSE ends day higher
“Clothing prices normally rise between February and March as new year discounting ends,” said Office for National Statistics head of inflation Mike Hardie.
“However, this year the price of clothes has eased due to some retailers offering discounts due to decreased footfall in stores before the lockdown started.
“The cost of raw materials for manufacturers fell significantly over the year, driven by a global fall in the price for crude oil, which is at its lowest level since early 2016.”
The FTSE 100 ended the day 2.3% higher at 5770.63, just four points lower than where the index sat a week ago, while the FTSE 250 rose 1.21% to 15586.14.
The Pound also had a better day, gaining 0.22% against the US dollar to $1.23 and 0.51% against the Euro to €1.13.
Nikkei in the red
In New York’s wall Street, the Dow Jones picked up mid-afternoon and climbed 1.99% to 23476.30 and the NASDAQ was up 2.39% to 8460.80. In Chicago, the S&P 500 also rose 2.21% to 2797.13.
The only global market in the red was Tokyo’s Nikkei, closing at 0.74% down at 19137.95 on fears of a second wave of coronavirus hitting Japan.
In Asia, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong hit 23893.36, rising 0.42%.
In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.25% to 4411.80; the DAX in Frankfurt closed 1.61% up at 10415.03, the Euro Stoxx saw a 1.56% increase to 2834.9 and in Madrid, the IBEX ended at 1.28% up at 6719.80.
London’s gold spot price was 1.56% better at $1,715.