| Share | Tweet |
Markets mixed in volatile trading
11 August 2011 Last updated at 10:26 ET
Continue reading the main story
Market Data
Last Updated at 10:40 ET
| Market index | Current value | Trend | Variation | % variation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 10932.76 | Up | 212.82 | 1.99% |
| Nasdaq | 2442.76 | Up | 61.71 | 2.59% |
| S&P 500 | 1143.86 | Up | 23.10 | 2.06% |
| FTSE 100 | 5080.84 | Up | 73.68 | 1.47% |
| Dax | 5748.66 | Up | 135.24 | 2.41% |
| BBC Global 30 | 5116.91 | Up | 44.21 | 0.87% |
US shares have risen in early trade, while European markets are mixed as trading remains volatile amid continued worries over the eurozone debt crisis.
Wall Street’s main Dow Jones index was 1.2% higher in early trading.
Leading European share indexes began the day positive, but then lost their earlier gains of about 2%.
In afternoon trading, London’s FTSE 100 was 0.6% higher, Germany’s Dax was up 0.9%, while France’s Cac 40 was down 0.7%.
In a day that has seen dramatic swings in share values, investors took some comfort from news the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet next Tuesday to discuss eurozone governance.
A statement from President Sarkozy’s office said the two would also discuss “other international issues”.
French banking shares had started the day among the biggest gainers, with Societe Generale shares up 8%. However, the bank’s shares then swung to stand down 8%, before recovering to be 1% lower by mid-afternoon.
‘Irrational fears’
Mr Sarkozy held emergency talks with senior ministers on Wednesday, the day France became the centre of market turbulence.
Rumours had swept the market that the country was about to lose its AAA credit rating and that Societe Generale was in line for a government bailout.
Gilles Moec from Deutsche Bank says the risk of imminent French down grade is small
The rumours were denied by credit rating agencies, the French Treasury and Societe Generale.
Societe Generale chief executive Frederic Oudea said the rumours were “absolutely rubbish” in an interview with CNBC television on Wednesday after the market closed.
Mr Oudea also spoke to France Info radio. “People are scared,” he said, “so the tiniest information touches off irrational fears. To our clients, we have to tell them that these rumours are baseless and that they can have confidence in Societe Generale.”
The bank has asked the French market authorities to investigate the source of the rumours, which left its shares 23% lower at one point on Wednesday.
Some analysts have been saying that many shares have been “oversold”, meaning they are now cheap at the price.
Vincent Ganne, chartist at TradingSat, said the market was still too volatile and nervous for many investors: “Have we seen capitulation yet? Has the sell-off reached its paroxysm? It’s not clear at this point.”
‘Dangerous time’
As concerns continue about the high level of government debt in both the US and eurozone nations, Chancellor George Osborne said the UK government had been right to start to work hard to reduce its deficit.
He told Parliament that the coalition’s efforts to tackle the deficit had make the UK a “safe haven” for investors.
Yet Mr Osborne warned that the UK economy was not “immune” to the international economic storm.
“History teaches us that recovery from this sort of debt-driven balance sheet recession was always going to be choppy and difficult,” he said.
“The whole world now realises that the huge overhang of debt means that the recovery will take longer and be harder than had been hoped.
“Markets are waking up to this fact and that is what makes this the most dangerous time for the global economy since 2008.”
Italy’s options
In Italy, Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti addressed a special parliamentary session to outline his country’s response to the eurozone debt crisis, which is expected to include deficit reduction measures to meet its target of balancing its budget by 2013.
Mr Tremonti said budget cuts next year would be “very strong”, but he queried European Central Bank demands for cuts in public sector salaries and labour law reforms to make firing easier.
He said: “The numbers and details are under discussion. The political choice about how we focus ourselves, for 2012 and 2013, is still a political choice we have to make.”
Mr Tremonti told parliament that Italy needed to reduce its deficit of about 3.9% of national income this year to closer to 1% next year.
Italy’s debt is the second highest in the eurozone after Greece at 120% of gross domestic product, but its deficit is among the lowest, meaning its debt is rising at a slower rate.
— ’re ’s , . : A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.
