Markets stay hopeful after bank optimism

Following a wobble on Tuesday, the bulls were back out in force as optimism swept markets, building on strong growth from earlier in the week.

Soothing words from Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey to MPs, following similar moves from US Fed chairman Jerome Powell the previous day, also helped.

The FTSE 100 closed the day up 64.93 points, or 1.08%, to 6,067.16 – reversing the losses made on Tuesday.

In Europe, the German Dax 30 closed up 1.3% and France’s Cac 40 up 0.9%.

David Madden, financial analyst at CMC Markets UK, explained: “As governments slowly unwind their lockdown restrictions, that should equate to an increase in economic activity.

“In recent weeks we have broadly seen an improvement in economic indicators from countries that have reopened elements of their economies, and dealers are hopeful the trend will continue.”

The pound was flat by market close, having recovered from earlier in the day, at 1.225 dollars. Against the euro a pound was down 0.5% at 1.116 euros – falling on the back of decent consumer confidence data from the Eurozone.

In company news, Marks and Spencer wowed investors with a thorough plan on how it intends to recover, including longer-term plans to cut back on the committees and layers of management that have slowed the business down in the past.

Bosses still aim to shut 100 to 120 UK stores and it is trying to get its online joint venture with Ocado up and running by September. Shares closed up 9.24p or 10.8%, at 95.04p.