Russia-Ukraine Peace Hope Lifts FTSE

European stock markets also benefited from a Ukraine-induced increase in share prices that have been depressed for months while the conflict has escalated.

The FTSE 100 moved up 44 points to 6,879 while the German Dax increased by 119 at 9626, shrugging off a fall in retail sales across the eurozone.

Figures on Wednesday from the services sector – which ranges from retailing to insurance, banking to hairdressing and accounts for 77% of the economy – showed activity accelerated to a 10-month high in August as output and new orders maintained a run of expansion stretching back almost two years.

President Obama welcomed the truce, but remained sceptical that the rebels in the east of Ukraine or their Russian supporters would negotiate in good faith and work towards a political solution.

Ukraine has proved a stumbling block in the global recovery with economic sanctions on Russia denting business confidence. A decline in German GDP in the last quarter was also blamed on Moscow, which supplies almost 40% of Germany’s energy needs.

The UK economy has so far proved largely immune to the spillover from the conflict, with only its manufacturing sector suffering a slowdown in growth during the summer.

The construction and services sector have remained robust and kept GDP growth surging at a 3% annual rate, the fastest in the G7.

via The Guardian

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