Market update: India’s stock market reaches new high after state election result – 09.12.2013

Source: Henderson Global Investors

Wall Street stocks finished the week higher on Friday with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 up 1.3% and 1.1% respectively, following a stronger-than-expected payrolls report. Meanwhile, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment jumped to 82.5 for December, up from 75.1 in November. Shares in JC Penney slumped 8.6% after the US department store chain revealed that it had received a letter of inquiry from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking an explanation on the company’s financial position.

In Asia, India’s stock market rose almost 2% and reached a new high, driven by a wave of investor optimism following a resounding defeat for the ruling Congress party in the state elections at the weekend. Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 was up 2.3% while the Hang Seng closed 0.3% higher.

European bourses are unchanged this morning with both the FTSE 100 and FTSE Eurofirst 300 flat. In stock news, shares in Punch Taverns gained 4.7% after revealing progress on reaching a debt restructuring deal with its creditors. Elsewhere, shares in Kentz rose almost 6% after the UK engineering and construction group announced the proposed acquisition of US-based Valerus’s oilfield services business.