Reports of a profitable start to 2009 for US banking giant Citigroup have led to a surge in stock markets worldwide. In an internal memo made public today, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit told employees the bank had its best profit performance in more than a year in the first two months of 2009.
In London, the FTSE added 173 points (4.9%) to end at 3,715, with Standard Life gaining almost 20% to 158p and Lloyds Banking Group up 16% to just under 51p. In Paris the CAC soared 5.75% to 2,664 while in Frankfurt the Dax jumped 5.3% to 3,887.
Dublin's ISEQ closed up 69 points (3.6%) at 1,986, with AIB gaining four cent to 40 cent and Irish Life & Permanent jumping 16 to 88 cent. On the first day of Cheltenham, bookmaker Paddy Power gained 54 cent to €12.64, while Elan added 53 cent to €4.50.
The advance in Europe followed a strong start on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones was 295 points (4.5%) higher at 6,842 and the Nasdaq was up 72 points (5.7%) to 1,340. Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index slid 31 points (0.4%) to end at 7,055 to hit its lowest level since October 1982.
