A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks have made their biggest gain in more than a month as oil prices surge, lifting energy stocks.
Tech stocks also climbed on Friday as Apple jumped the most since August.
Energy companies soared after the price of US crude jumped nine per cent.
Oil prices reached their lowest level in 12 years earlier in the week, but they jumped the past two days.
The gain on Friday, combined with a smaller increase the day before, gave the market its first weekly advance after three weeks of declines.
It’s been a dismal start to the year so far, and on Wednesday the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled as much as 565 points before recouping some of its loss.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 210.83 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 16,093.51.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index had its best day since early December, gaining 37.91 points, or 2.0 per cent, to 1,906.90.
The Nasdaq composite index made its biggest gain since September, adding 119.12 points, or 2.7 per cent, to 4,591.18.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.7 per cent, the S&P 500 climbed 2.0 per cent and the Nasdaq increased 2.3 per cent.
LONDON – Britain’s top share index has recorded its first weekly gain for 2016, as a respite to the slump in the oil price lifted the shares of major energy companies.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 2.2 per cent at 5,900.01 points on Friday. It also rose 1.7 per cent over the week – the first time in 2016 it has made a weekly gain.
Nevertheless, the FTSE remains down 6.0 per cent since the start of 2016 and some 20 per cent below last April’s record high of 7,122.74 points, putting it near “bear market” territory.
Concerns about a slowdown in China – the world’s second biggest economy and a major consumer of metals and oils – have hit world stock markets since the start of 2016.
Oil prices have fallen to 12-year lows in January but they managed to recover on Friday, rising sharply and in turn lifting the shares of BP and Royal Dutch Shell.
“In the short term, the FTSE’s commodities-led rally has legs and we cannot rule out a move towards 6,000 in the coming sessions,” said Jawaid Afsar, senior trader at Securequity.
“However, its medium and longer-term remain uncertain as some serious damage has been done to its technical outlook. The FTSE is still flirting around its ‘bear market’ territory and a fall below 5,800 could lead to a slump towards the 5,200-5,300 area,” he added.
HONG KONG – Asian stocks had their best day in three months on Friday.
The surge comes a day after ECB President Mario Draghi signalled the central bank would ease policy further at its next meeting, in March, to combat fading growth and disinflation, a message he reiterated at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Investors seized on Draghi’s comments and bet the Bank of Japan might also ease policy further next week and the Federal Reserve will go slow in raising US rates this year.
“With inflation so low, it would be strange if central banks didn’t do more in the face of such market turmoil and elevated risk factors,” said Deutsche Bank’s John Reid.
“It won’t be a major growth stimulant but any extra liquidity provided will have to go somewhere, so it’s too early to say the central bank era of elevating asset prices is over,” he said.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 2.4 per cent, the most since October 7, after touching a four-year low on Thursday.
Japan’s Nikkei surged 5.9 per cent at the close, the most in more than four months. Chinese stocks, which had fallen almost 20 per cent since the turn of the year, rose 1.3 per cent.
WELLINGTON – The S&P/NZX 50 index advanced 40.72 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 6121.62.
