The Global equity market has seen gains in the past week on the back of positive reports from Procter & Gamble and Microsoft, as well as reduced fears over the spread of Ebola in the United States. The recovery boosted American shares, and prices of safe-haven American Treasuries remained stable.
The MSCI’s all-country index climbed 3.1% in the past week, its biggest weekly growth in percentage terms since July 2013. The S&P 500 climbed 5.5% from the lows posted mid-October, showing its highest weekly gain in more than two years. Shares improved off strong U.S corporate reports.
Last week, news of the first positive Ebola test in New York affected European shares negatively. The scare impacted on bullish trades in the United States but investors quickly got over those concerns. Experts say the market believes that the possibility of infection becoming widespread is very small and this is reflected in the positive numbers. The rally in the past week reflected the fact that stocks were oversold and investors were concerned about global growth, in addition to Ebola concerns.
Reported corporate earnings were balanced as Microsoft and Procter and Gamble rose following quarterly results while Amazon reported earnings miss. Microsoft shares posted 2.5% gains while Amazon went down by 8.3% In the currency world, the Euro rose against the dollar in response to discussions that updates in the Euro zone’s banking sector financials will not show too many concerns in top banks in the continent. Currently, the European banks stress test has indicted 25 banks.
How traders are reacting
At the same time, traders are employing more advanced online stockbroking tools. A recent launch is the new online trading platform from IG, a CFD and financial spread betting provider. Its execution-only stockbroking service makes use of the existing world-class technology across the company to offer live pricing on more than 4,500 shares around the world. It supports a variety of charting and analytical tools and makes it easy for clients to trade commission free during their first month of online trading.
With the superior technology deployed, it is easier to trade in markets that are outside the United Kingdom. Before now it was expensive to do this through the standard online channels. The platform also makes it possible for advanced CFDs and stockbroking shares traders to trade into the order books of major equity and FX exchanges, directly.
“The global financial markets are faster-moving and more intertwined than ever before,” says Tim Howkins, chief executive of IG Group. “Our new platform provides the latest in data, pricing and trading technology to those who want to trade the stock markets, and we can support them with round-the- clock customer service.
“Users now have the right information at the right price, available to them at the right time and in a highly transparent way – whether through a desktop computer, phone or tablet. With the best of IG’s 40 years of trading experience at clients’ fingertips, this has the potential to revolutionise online stockbroking.”
