Good News from US and Europe, but FTSE Lower

Markets got the news they were waiting for today as Germany approved the EU bailout fund.

Morningstar.co.uk Editors 29 September, 2011 | 5:55PM
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As it was, it turned out to be rather less finely balanced than originally thought, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel scoring a decisive victory. The German parliament voted to extend the bail-out facility by a factor of around 3.5:1. Better than expected German employment data was also welcomed by European markets.

Markets also cheered better-than-expected US growth figures. GDP growth for the second quarter was revised up 0.3% to 1.3%. Jobless figures also fell back to below 400,000, suggesting the US economy is creating jobs.

The Dax, CAC 40 and US markets were all up over 1% on the day. The notable laggard for the second day running was the FTSE 100, which fell 21 points to 5,197. The miners exerted the biggest drag on the FTSE 100, on news that Chinese property growth was starting to wobble.

The weakness in China also hit Burberry, which is exposed to consumer growth in the region. The clothing group was down 8.25% to 1,201p. Commodities giant Glencore was also hit by the news.

Domino's Pizza had another difficult day on markets as investors reversed their long-term love affair with the stock. The shares dipped another 6.7% to 427.4p after dropping almost 10% yesterday.

Wolseley was the day's top performer, buoyed by the news of stronger GDP growth in the US. It rose 6.6% to 1,601p. The stronger data also supported airline and travel groups, such as Thomas Cook and a number of the airline groups.

Elsewhere the top performers were a smorgesboard of defensive companies, inncluding Aviva, Tate & Lyle and Smiths Group. The latter continued to rise after yesterday's successful results.

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