Generally Good Trade On Worldwide Stocks

By Stewart Douglas

Stock markets around the world have enjoyed a good day in trading, with markets generally buoyed by a quiet day from the US and some positive trading results.

After the sub-prime crisis has made headline on an almost daily basis over the last few weeks, investors are gradually returning to their markets as the situation seems to die down.

However, as the situation develops markets could again swing violently into red, and investors are far from settled at the present time.  With the possibility of further fallout from the sub-prime situation, markets could quickly return to the red trading screens of a few weeks ago.

The Dow Jones in the US led the way, trading strongly on news of strong US worker productivity.  Additionally, with the ongoing promise of interest rate cuts at the Federal Reserve, investors are becoming more confident in the outcome of the sub-prime situation.

The Dow was up 119.01 over the close of play today, finishing at 13357.7, while the NASDAQ exchange grew by 31.06 points to 2596.4.  The S&P 500 was also up by 16.35 at 1474.0.

In Europe, markets saw more modest growth, with nothing particularly inspiring the investors on the day.  In London the FTSE 100 stock exchange closed at 6315.2, up on 11.9 points from the start of the day.

In Frankfurt, the German leading exchange the DAX 30 was similarly up on trading today, gaining 10.41 points despite fallen investor confidence.  The DAX closed at 7648.6.

In Paris, the CAC 40 exchange mirrored the gains on the FTSE and the DAX with 11.43 points lost on the trade of the day, closing down 5651.3 by the end of the day.

Analysts are remaining neutral for the outlook on trade tomorrow, with no particular movements forecast over early trade.