Markets: Eurozone rate cut firms up Footsie

The ECB, faced with weak economic data and low inflation, trimmed interest rates in the eurozone – Britain’s biggest trading partner – in a move that pushed down bond yields and offered fresh support to stimulus-hungry equity markets.

Yusuf Heusen, sales trader at IG, said: “ECB president Mario Draghi has wrought the necessary magic to keep the FTSE 100 from slipping lower.

“Only time will tell whether the optimism generated by expectations of an easing-in policy will last, or whether [Friday’s] non-farm payrolls [in the US] will be sufficient to torpedo any good sentiment engendered by Mr Draghi.”

The Footsie closed up 9.42 points at 6,460.71 – its strongest close in a month. On the currency markets, the pound slipped slightly against the dollar, to $1.55, while rising a little against the euro, to be worth €1.19.

Among stocks, it was Glencore that led the way on the FTSE 100, after its takeover of Xstrata heralded the creation of a new natural resources giant, in the biggest mining deal in history. Shares in the vast mining and commodities group – called Glencore Xstrata – will begin trading on the London Stock Exchange today, valuing it in the region of £42 billion. Glencore was up 5 per cent, or 16.8p, to 331.2p.

Shell posted a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter profits helping its shares improve by 17.5p to reach 2,276.5p.

BSkyB saw shares add 6p to 851p after a forecast-beating hike in earnings for the first nine months of the financial year.

NEW YORK: On Wall Street, stocks closed higher last night, led by tech shares, after weekly jobless claims figures pointed to improving US labour market conditions a day before the monthly payroll report.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 130.71 points, or 0.89 per cent, at 14,831.66 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended up 14.85 points, or 0.94 per cent, at 1,597.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 41.49 points, or 1.26 per cent, to close at 3,340.62.