Dramatic stock market rally runs out of stream
The MSCI world stock index is up 0.2% after Wall Street surges, while Chinese industrial firms' profits drop for the first time in three years
London — A global equity rally fueled by a dramatic surge on Wall Street ran out of steam on Thursday, setting US shares up for a weak opening after a fall in Chinese industrial profits offered a reminder of the pressures on the world economy. Still, world stocks stayed off near two-year lows, lifted by Wednesday’s 1,000 point-plus surge on the US Dow Jones index, which was partly triggered by the strongest holiday sales in years. Stocks in Asia and Europe initially took their cue from this rally, pushing the MSCI world index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, 0.4% higher, adding to a 2.3% spike on Wednesday, when the previous session, rising off a 22-month low, hit on Christmas Eve. But the gains halved by 11.30am GMT as a pan-European equity index fell 1.1% after a strong open and export-reliant German shares lost 2%. Equity futures for the Dow Jones index fell 1.5% while Nasdaq andthe S&P 500 appeared set for even weaker openings. “Yesterday was a blow-out day for US equity ma...
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