Following news of Elon Musk purchase, Twitter’s shares rose by more than 25%.
Elon Musk bought approximately 73.5 million Twitter shares, or 9.2% of the firm, according to a filing filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
While Twitter’s market capitalization isn’t significant enough to have an impact on the overall market, market analyst Patrick O’Hare believes the move has boosted sentiment.
“What the market is really responding to is the timing of Musk’s purchase and the supposition that it is an encouraging signal that longer-term investment opportunities might be availing themselves now in former high-flying stocks,” he said.
European stock markets ended the day with small gains, but Wall Street continued to advance.
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The Nasdaq, which is dominated by technology, had a particularly good session, rising about 2% on the back of significant increases in Amazon, Apple, and other tech behemoths.
The EU said it is urgently negotiating further sanctions against Russia as it condemned “atrocities” described in occupied Ukrainian towns, while White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan hinted that more US penalties might be unveiled this week.
“Even fresh sanctions talk does not appear to be having much of an effect, as the market learns to look past the immediate hit to earnings,” said analyst Chris Beauchamp at online trading platform IG.
“The strength of Friday’s payrolls report remains a motivating factor too, even if it has also emboldened Fed policy makers to think more seriously about a 50 basis point hike next time they meet,” he added.
According to official data released Friday, the world’s largest economy added 431,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate in the United States fell to just slightly above pre-pandemic levels.
Following Covid lockdowns in China and the 31-nation International Energy Agency agreeing to utilize its enormous reserves to offset the elimination of Russian supply, oil prices rebounded after dipping last week on fears about demand.
“Oil prices have rebounded after last week’s big falls with US prices recovering back above $100 a barrel, in the wake of renewed calls for further sanctions against Russian oil and gas imports,” said market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
“This appears to be outweighing concerns over Chinese demand after the whole of Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, was put into a Covid lockdown,” he added.
– Key figures around 2115 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 34,921.88 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.8 percent at 4,582.64 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 1.9 percent at 14,532.55 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,558.92 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.5 at 14,518.16 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 6,731.37 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.8 percent at 3,951.12 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 27,736.47 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 22,502.31 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holiday
Brent North Sea crude: UP 3.0 percent at $107.53 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.0 percent at $103.28 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0978 from $1.1043 late Friday
Pound/dollar: FLAT at $1.3114
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.65 pence from 84.21 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 122.78 yen from 122.52 yen
