London stocks were still in the black by midday on Thursday following a heavy selloff in the previous session, as bank shares recovered after Credit Suisse took a loan from the Swiss National Bank.
The FTSE 100 was up 1% at 7,420.43, having closed down a whopping 3.8% on Wednesday.
Beleaguered Swiss lender Credit Swiss said earlier that it has agreed to take a CHF50bn ($54bn) loan from the Swiss National Bank after its shares tumbled on Wednesday, sparking a selloff in global financial markets.
CS also said it was making a cash tender offer in relation to 10 US dollar-denominated senior debt securities for up to $2.5bn and a separate cash tender offer in relation to four Euro-denominated senior debt securities for €500m.
Chief executive officer Ulrich Koerner said: “These measures demonstrate decisive action to strengthen Credit Suisse as we continue our strategic transformation to deliver value to our clients and other stakeholders.
“My team and I are resolved to move forward rapidly to deliver a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs.”
Shares in Credit Suisse crumbled on Wednesday after top shareholder Saudi National Bank said it would not provide the lender with any further financial support.
According to reports, asked whether his bank was open to further injections of cash if there was another call for more liquidity, Saudi National Bank’s chairman Ammar Al Khudairy said: “The answer is absolutely not, for many reasons outside the simplest reason which is regulatory and statutory.”
However, he later told CNBC that Wednesday’s panic was not warranted. “There has been no discussions with Credit Suisse about providing assistance,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble. “I don’t know where the word ‘assistance’ came from, there has been no discussions whatsoever since October.”
Despite the positive tone, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, warned “we are nowhere near safe territory for the markets”.
“It would only take another piece of bad news from the banking sector anywhere in the world to put investors on edge again,” he said. “There is also the question of how the latest banking crisis will affect lenders’ appetite to loan money to start-ups and larger but unprofitable businesses. Might that have a knock-on negative impact to the economy?”
Looking ahead to the rest of the day, investors were eyeing the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank at 1315 GMT.
In equity markets, banks recovered some poised, with Lloyds, Barclays, and HSBC all up.
Investors were also sifting through a raft of earnings.
Rentokil surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it posted a jump in full-year profit and hiked its dividend, underpinned by recent acquisitions.
OSB was the standout gainer on the FTSE 250 after results, closely followed by Helios, which also had results out.
Investment company Bridgepoint advanced after it reported a jump in full-year profits and revenue as management fees across its private equity and credit strategies rose.
Investec was up after saying it expects to report an increase in full-year operating profit as it benefits from continued client acquisition, rising global interest rates and higher average advances.
On the downside, real estate agent Savills fell after saying it expects a tough first half of the current year and reported a fall in annual profits.
M&G, NatWest, Segro, Crest Nicholson, Dunelm, Anglo American, Spirent Communications and Ferguson were all trading without entitlement to the dividend.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,420.43 1.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,724.52 0.53%
techMARK (TASX) 4,507.57 0.69%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 545.20p 8.39%
Informa (INF) 675.80p 2.99%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 229.20p 2.96%
Diageo (DGE) 3,543.00p 2.71%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 47.25p 2.68%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 137.18p 2.65%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,946.00p 2.61%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,036.50p 2.58%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,143.00p 2.54%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,125.00p 2.51%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
M&G (MNG) 183.70p -7.41%
SEGRO (SGRO) 757.00p -3.27%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,490.50p -2.70%
Fresnillo (FRES) 718.00p -2.66%
Prudential (PRU) 1,026.50p -0.92%
BP (BP.) 482.80p -0.82%
Shell (SHEL) 2,242.00p -0.77%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,293.00p -0.77%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 260.00p -0.69%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,956.00p -0.30%
FTSE 250 – Risers
OSB Group (OSB) 517.50p 8.86%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 111.20p 6.31%
Investec (INVP) 459.50p 4.55%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 211.60p 3.12%
Synthomer (SYNT) 133.50p 3.09%
AJ Bell (AJB) 343.60p 3.00%
The European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT) 157.00p 2.95%
ASOS (ASC) 806.00p 2.74%
Chemring Group (CHG) 284.00p 2.71%
Britvic (BVIC) 850.50p 2.59%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
National Express Group (NEX) 121.90p -5.06%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 2,210.00p -3.91%
Currys (CURY) 68.90p -3.77%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,129.00p -3.75%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 211.00p -3.74%
UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 51.20p -3.58%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 889.50p -3.37%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 137.60p -3.10%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 115.40p -2.94%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 172.30p -2.71%
