Markets have started to stabilise after a chaotic week led by the US debt downgrade and further interest rate hikes in the UK.
Dan Coatsworth, stock market analyst at AJ Bell, said: “The FTSE 100 was flat on Friday morning, while parts of mainland Europe including France and Spain saw small gains. Asia moved higher across the key markets in Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan and India.
“Pre-market indicative prices suggest US markets will also move higher. Non-farm payrolls numbers in the US released later today are expected to show a robust jobs market.
“Amazon’s better than expected second quarter results have put investors in a better mood. Its cloud computing problems aren’t getting worse, costs are being lowered in its fulfilment network and retail customers are getting their orders faster than ever
“Sadly, the positive sentiment didn’t extend to all parts of the market, with the UK seeing several big downward movements. Capital slumped 11% after flagging up to £25 million of costs associated with its recent cyber-attack. WPP was close behind with a 7% decline after a nasty profit warning linked to US tech clients spending less on advertising.”
