Business News

NEW YORK, June 7 (APP/AFP): Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen
boosted Wall Street Friday, restating her confidence in the US economy but softening her view on interest rate hikes after a poor US employment report.
Meanwhile London stocks rallied despite new polls that put the
British referendum vote back on a knife-edge and sent the pound tumbling.
Yellen helped markets tentatively put last Friday’s surprisingly
dismal US jobs report behind them, saying one month’s data is not so significant and that the overall labor market situation has been “quite positive”.
But she backed away from previous Fed hints for a rate increase in
June or July, only saying that tighter monetary policy should come gradually.
That helped the S&P 500 to a seven-month high with a 0.5 percent gain
for the day.
US and London stocks were also boosted by a surge in crude prices as
Nigerian production remains under pressure from militant attacks, and general support for commodities from the lower dollar.
The FTSE 100 gained 1.0 percent, outpacing rival Frankfurt and Paris
markets.
Shares in miner Anglo American were the biggest gainer on the FTSE
100, jumping 11.1 percent.
ConocoPhillips added 3.0 percent and Exxon Mobil 1.1 percent; BP rose
2.0 percent and Total 1.3 percent.
But a fresh surge in sentiment for Britain exiting the European
Union, with the June 23 referendum approaching, pushed Britain’s currency to around three-week lows against the euro and dollar, before rebounding.
The euro hit 79.05 pence in Asian trading hours — the European single currency’s highest level against sterling since mid-May. But in late trade it was about 78.64 pence.