| schema:articleBody
| - Asian and European stock markets bounced higher Monday following last week's blood-letting as bargain-buyers moved in, while silver prices soared to an eight-year peak after it became a new target of chatroom-driven retail buying, dealers said. In Europe, London stocks charged 1.2 percent higher at midday while Paris and Frankfurt each added 1.3 percent in early afternoon eurozone deals. "European stock markets were broadly higher ... as investors try to arrest a decline over the last fortnight," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson. Dealers remain on edge as surging infections and a stuttering vaccination rollout offset long-term hopes for the economic recovery. Worries about online retail investors' attack on Wall Street short traders was still causing angst on trading floors, with fears they are being forced to sell some equities to cover their backs. Silver, the latest target, zoomed to an eight-year peak at $30.10 per ounce in early Monday morning deals, before paring gains. The precious metal has now soared by more than 16 percent since Thursday. "Silver prices jumped... as investor interest turned on the metal due to expectations Reddit traders will attempt to squeeze prices higher," added Wilson. "Retail traders are herding into silver in the same way they have driven the likes of GameStop over the last week." Traders have also been rattled by the soaring price of some companies that have been targeted by amateur investors who have organised over Reddit and other online forums. Their huge buying spree of firms led by video-game store GameStop and cinema chain AMC has hammered short selling hedge funds who had bet their price would fall. Global markets were a sea of red last week due to a combination of issues including rising virus cases, problems with countries' immunisation programmes and worries about high valuations following a months-long rally. New York's three main indexes all ended Friday with steep losses and there is talk that equities will see a correction. Still, the new week started on a positive note in Asia, with Hong Kong and Seoul up more than two percent, while Tokyo jumped more than one percent and Shanghai won 0.6 percent. Data out of China at the weekend showed growth in economic activity appeared to have slowed in January as officials imposed fresh containment measures to counter new virus clusters in parts of the country. The spotlight was also still on Washington with lawmakers urged to approve new stimulus for the struggling US economy. There is a feeling that Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion plan will be whittled down as Republicans look to lower the cost, while a group of 10 senators from the party have proposed an alternative package, which they say could win the bipartisan support Biden has said he wants. Senator Susan Collins, a moderate, said the group would release details of their plan Monday. London - FTSE 100: UP 1.2 percent at 6,481.87 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.3 percent at 13,613.23 Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.3 percent at 5,470.54 EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.6 percent at 3,535.98 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.6 percent at 28,091.05 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 2.2 percent at 28,892.86 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,505.28 (close) New York - Dow: DOWN 2.0 percent at 29,982.62 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.2088 from $1.2136 at 2200 GMT Dollar/yen: UP at 104.85 yen from 104.68 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3721 from $1.3708 Euro/pound: DOWN at 88.09 pence from 88.53 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $52.40 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.7 percent at $55.45 per barrel burs-rfj/bcp/wai
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)