As we enter the final hour of trading, the FTSE is up on the day and pretty stable at around 55 points higher.
Despite Shell’s profit decline announcement this morning, a range of sectors saw positive movements today. Miners came back from a poor day yesterday, while the fragile banking sector rallied, with RBS leading the way. Travel stocks experienced a recovery too, as shares in British Airways took off after losing value in the last couple of days over fears of the global swine flu pandemic.
There was mixed news from across the Atlantic though. The Commerce Department announced that US GDP contracted at a 6.1% annual rate, which was the second straight quarter of decline – and worse than analysts had expected. On opening, the Dow was up sharply by some 90 points as the major US banks rallied.
So it seems that for the moment swine flu fears have been allayed, as Western powers ramp up the ‘we’re ready for anything’ rhetoric. Nevertheless, uncertainty about what the situation will be like tomorrow, or in the medium-term, means that for many investors, these are still nervous times.
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