Don’t worry, be happy: FTSE 100 shakes off its ECB woes to open higher, pushed up by Aviva
The FTSE 100 stormed back into positive territory this morning, after a miserable finish to yesterday's trading.
The market was up 1.5 per cent at 6,131.6 points, after it edged perilously close to the 6,000 mark yesterday, when comments by European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi hinted rates are unlikely to be cut any further.
"So now we’ve experienced the market exuberance as the ECB 'over-delivered', quickly followed by despair," said David Morrison, senior market strategist at SpreadCo.
"That in turn became a buying opportunity as [US] investors piled in on the long side yesterday evening leaving the major US indices virtually unchanged. Looking at this morning’s trade so far, it’s fair to conclude that the ECB’s actions are positive for equities."
This morning's rise was driven by Aviva, which rose 3.9 per cent to 484.3p after encouraging results yesterday, while Barclays rose 3.3 per cent to 165.1p. Marks and Spencer was the only faller – it dipped 0.5 per cent to 404.3p.
Stocks were also helped by oil, which rose 1.8 per cent overnight on fresh investment and a strong yuan.
The rise in oil prices "effectively wiped the slate clean" for equities, said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at SpreadEx.
"[The market was] lifted by a recovery from Brent Crude that saw the commodity back nearing its recent highs after plunging past the $40 mark following yesterday’s breakdown in talks between Opec and non-Opec members," he said.
"That left the oil and mining stocks in a healthy shade of green, the usual 2016 pre-requisite for the FTSE posting any growth."