Markets: Fed hints give global bourses a boost

HINTS that the US Federal Reserve might turn the money taps back on gave world markets a lift yesterday.

London’s leading FTSE 100 index was 47.8 points higher at 5,902.7 after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the US economy still needed help to produce faster job growth, which was taken as a sign that more quantitative easing is on the cards.

Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said Bernanke’s comments “served up another shot in the arm for markets”. “The London index is testing the 5,900 level once again and certainly messages like this will have the potential to see bulls returning to the game, but it’s far from being a universally cheerful picture,” she said.

Aberdeen Asset Management was among the biggest risers after posting a better-than-expected trading update. Shares in the fund manager were ahead 4.4 per cent or 10.9p at 260.8p after it revealed a rise in assets under management of more than £10 billion in two months.

But investors reacted negatively to news that the Financial Services Authority had fined Royal Bank of Scotland’s Coutts’ arm £8.75 million for failing to put adequate anti-money laundering measures in place. RBS down 0.3p at 27.8p.

Outside the top flight, Irn-Bru maker AG Barr was ahead after the Cumbernauld-based group reported a 6.2 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £33.6m last year, helped by strong sales of its tropical brands Rubicon and KA. Shares were up 8p at 1,228p.

Shares in Scotland’s newest listed company, Livingston-based gas meter supplier Energy Assets, were unmoved by news that Old Mutual had built up a stake of nearly 12 per cent in the firm. The firm, which listed last week, closed at 199p.

NEW YORK: Wall Street leapt to multi-year highs last night with one of the biggest gains of the year after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the US economy still needs help to produce jobs growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 160.90 points, or 1.23 per cent, to end at 13,241.63 while the broader S&P 500 Index gained 19.40 points, or 1.39 per cent, to finish at 1,416.51. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 54.65 points, or 1.78 per cent, at 3,122.57.