Markets open strongly
By politics.co.uk staff
The FTSE 100 index opens strongly today with a jump of four per cent in share prices.
The increase follows the deal worked out by EU finance ministers to shore up the Euro and prevent the Greek fiscal crisis spreading to Spain and Portugal.
The improvement in the markets calmed nerves in Westminster, where party leaders were under increasing pressure to finalise coalition deals, in case the markets got jittery.
Today’s performance substantiates the argument that the market had already ‘priced in’ the eventuality of a hung parliament, and would remain settled during the coalition-building period.
The index had fallen 2.6% at the end of last week amid fears that the Greek crisis and Britain’s hung parliament would lead to instability, but it has bounced back 223 points to 5346.3.
Talk that both the Conservatives and Lib Dems, if they form a coalition, would concentrate on tackling the deficit is also thought to have steadied investors’ jitters.
