Dow rally tips FTSE over 5,000 again

The FTSE is up 19.73 points (0.4%) to 5007.41 at 9.30 after a good day's trading in the US, as investors responded to news President Obama's stimulus package has boosted GDP and created jobs.

Hedge fund giant, Man Group has added 4.93% to 280.8p upon speculation of a fund launch, while International Power has gained 3.53% to 293.4p.

However, Friends Provident Group lost 0.96% to 82.7p and Standard Chartered has tumbled 0.63% to £14.19.

In the US, the Dow Jones ended trading up 80.26 points (0.84%) to 9627.48, as The White House announced Obama's $767bn American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has created over one million jobs and boosted US GDP by 2-3% between April and June.

Walt Disney Co gained 5.23% to $28.36, while Proctor & Gamble Co climbed 4.24% to $56.04 confirming previous guidance for organic sales growth of between 1% and 3% in 2010.

Communications giants AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc added 2.39% to $26.56 and 1.49% to $31.35, respectively.

However, as speculation of another bid for Cadbury mounts, Kraft Food Inc has fallen 2.72% to $26.12, while McDonald's Corp has shed 0.44% to $54.85.

In Japan, the Nikkei is down 69.34 points (0.66%) to 10444.33, as exporters and carmakers continue to be hit by a strong yen.

Categories: Economics / Markets