London shares rise on reassuring comments from Fed officials

Yesterday, investors were convinced that the Fed would raise rates by 100 basis points, which weighed on sentiment. Poor results from JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley only made things worse.

The FTSE100 fell 1.4%, with oil being the biggest loser as prices fell back to levels not seen since the invasion of Ukraine.

Overnight, sentiment improved as Fed Governor Waller and St. Louis Fed President Bullard both said that a 0.75% hike was the most likely scenario at the July FOMC meeting, not 1.0%. The  FTSE 100 was up more than 1% this morning,

Defensive stocks such as British American Tobacco and AstraZeneca were among the biggest gainers.

Rio Tinto fell 1.7% after the miner warned about its second-half profits, due to that labour shortages and inflation.

Burberry tumbled 4.9% after it said Q1 comparable store sales were hampered by Covid-19 lockdowns in China.

 

Things to read today:

China narrowly misses second-quarter contraction as zero-Covid batters economy (Financial Times)

Ukraine: can Russia still win the war? (Financial Times)