Stocks pump as 3rd quarter ends

Stocks rose on Wednesday (September 30th) as investors bought into equities after the worst quarterly decline in four years.

European shares turned higher after gains in Asia and on Wall Street, while some commodity prices continued to weaken.

The FTSE 100 rose two per cent as Glencore shook off its recent tumble to climb more than ten per cent.

Shares in supermarket Sainsbury’s jumped over 13 per cent as the company said its full-year profits would beat forecasts, while rivals Tesco and Morrisons also gained more than five per cent.

The DAX in Frankfurt surged 2.5 per cent in morning trade, with Deutsche Bank and VW both up three per cent.

FInancial stocks also helped the CAC 40 in Paris to rise 2.7 per cent, with French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale among the big risers.

Figures showing deflation returned to the eurozone in September boosted expectations of more stimulus from the European Central Bank.

Standard and Poor’s said the bank will likely double its quantitative easing programme to €2.4 trillion, adding fresh impetus to equities.

With inflation slipping to -0.1 per cent, the euro fell against the dollar, which firmed ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen. EUR/USD dropped 0.4 per cent to 1.1206, while USD/JPY added 0.5 per cent to 120.32.

Earlier the Nikkei in Japan closed up 2.7 per cent at 17,388.15, as a broad rally in Asia sent shares higher in China, Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

This followed a mixed session in the US that saw the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 end higher, while the Nasdaq closed lower.

Commodities remained under pressure, with palladium sliding to a seven-year low, although copper bounced off a six-year trough hit on Tuesday. Platinum also rose but remains near to its lowest since the financial crisis amid concerns about future demand for the metal in diesel cars in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal.

Oil was lower, with US light crude slipping to just above $45 a barrel after the American Petroleum Institute reported a 4.6 million barrel rise in crude stocks last week. Brent crude, the global benchmark, held slightly above $48 a barrel.

On the Comex in New York, gold slid 0.4 per cent to $1,122.40 per ounce.