Technology stocks topped the leaderboard again on Thursday after US central bank boss, Jerome Powell, reiterated overnight the Federal Reserve’s commitment to buttressing growth.
“The Fed won’t even think about removing the stimulus package until the pandemic is well and truly behinds us,” CMC Markets UK senior market analyst, David Madden, told clients.
“There has been chatter than inflation could undergo a jump due to the extremely loose monetary policy of central banks and the aggressive stimulus plans of government’s but a modest increase in US inflation won’t phase the Fed.”
Optimism regarding prospects for the approval in Congress of the Biden administration’s $1.9trn fiscal stimulus package was also feeding investor optimism.
Going the other way, Oil&Gas was the main drag on the FTSE 350 even after analysts at Citi raised their 6-12 month point oil price forecast for Brent to $70 a barrel.
Top performing sectors so far today
Technology Hardware & Equipment 2,046.73 +5.70%
Leisure Goods 26,313.54 +3.53%
Industrial Transportation 3,352.70 +2.20%
Media 8,076.55 +2.07%
Construction & Materials 7,094.95 +1.71%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Oil & Gas Producers 4,600.79 -1.75%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 5,257.65 -1.44%
Banks 2,574.08 -0.90%
Personal Goods 33,341.64 -0.90%
Automobiles & Parts 4,941.97 -0.84%
