Markets rally on stimulus hopes after Chinese imports slump - as it happened
Eurozone growth figures are stronger than first estimated, but a big fall in Chinese imports and exports show its economy remains shaky
6.06pm BST
European markets have now closed and it's time for a quick summary to finish off a day that saw some good news from the eurozone (with the notable exception of France), renewed hopes of Chinese stimulus after its imports fell again and warnings about pricier lattes.
Here is how things looked at the close for the European bourses, helped by that news this morning that eurozone GDP increased by 0.4% in the April-June period, not the 0.3% first estimated three weeks ago.
The UK economy looks to be firmly in two speed mode with the services sector looking to be expanding solidly whilst manufacturers suffer a tougher ride, dragged down, in particular, by sterling strength.
5.11pm BST
Talking of Whitbread's complaints about the "national living wage", the chancellor has been answering questions about his new minimum pay rates this afternoon.
Osborne, announced a bumper pay increase in July, with the current 6.50 minimum wage set to rise to 7.20 for those aged over 25 from next April. The rate will grow steadily over the following four years to about 9.35 an hour.
Q: How will you ensure people losing money from the cuts to tax credits have time to get used to their lower income?
Osborne says he is proposing a compact to the country. To business, he is saying their taxes will be low, but they have to pay higher wages. And to families he is saying welfare will be less generous, but wages will be higher.
"I am pretty confident that we are going to be able to do a deal, but we are still in the negotiations."
5.00pm BST
The FTSE 100 has now closed and has managed to clock up another day of gains. Building on Monday's mosest o.5% rise, the index of London-listed bluechips has ended today's session up another 1.2%, or 72 points, at 6,146.1.
Traders say this morning's upgraded growth figures for the eurozone brought a much needed boost to market sentiment after the turmoil of recent weeks.
4.01pm BST
Although the Dow hogs the headlines, the S&P 500 is a better measure of the health of the US stock market.
And it's gained 1.5% today, meaning the index has burst back out of correction territory (defined as being 10% below the recent high).
The near 2% surge in US markets is mostly a bounce back from Friday's sell-off but weak Chinese trade data possibly sets the tone for more stimulus from China.
The logic is that the PBOC won't want to rock markets with one-off currency devaluation. More likely, China will be more incremental in weakening the exchange rate with more cuts to bank reserves and interest rates if the economy still shows signs of slowing.
Dow jumps 200 points at the open; S&P, Nasdaq out of correction territory http://t.co/xH2LQFzgtr pic.twitter.com/EVud8ODqSN bit.l"
3.52pm BST
Here are the stocks leading the rally in New York today:
3.45pm BST
The wave of optimism on Wall Street has pushed every share on the Dow Jones industrial average higher, after one hour's trading.
The Dow is up around 235 points, or 1.46%, while the tech stock-heavy Nasdaq has gained almost 2%.
"With volatility having receded somewhat during the past few days it appears that investors have been reassessing the potential negative fallout from the slowdown in China."
3.25pm BST
And they're back! Moscow's bourse is up and running again, and the stock market has dipped slightly.
2.46pm BST
Moscow's stock market is nearly ready to open after that glitch:
UPDATE: Russia's Moscow stock exchange says it will resume trading on its main market at 9:50a ET after earlier technology failure.
2.45pm BST
Shares on Wall Street are rising at the start of trading, as New York traders catch up with events since the weekend.
The Dow Jones jumped by 304 pints, or nearly 2%, with talk that today's weak Chinese trade figures might prompt more stimulus measure from Beijing.
Wal-Mart and Microsoft lead big jump on the Dow http://t.co/fUmplWfG8a pic.twitter.com/Oo7Bj1B6K4
2.32pm BST
Back in Greece, anti-austerity rebels have won the support of the legendary leftist Manolis Glezos in what some say will be a major endorsement for the anti-euro Popular Unity party.
"These elections are decisive, they provide the opportunity for the rotten status quo to be destroyed and for the fighter to prove himself."
2.16pm BST
Here's one for the daredevil bond traders among you - Iraq is getting ready to issue sovereign debt for the first time in nine years.
Despite the political risks in Iraq, its status as OPEC's second biggest oil producer is expected to ensure buyers for its debt; its huge southern oil fields have not been directly touched by the fighting, and it has embarked on an ambitious multi-year plan to raise crude output.
Baghdad is expected to pay a high price for its borrowing, however; Iraq's outstanding US dollar bond maturing in 2028 is trading at a yield of 10.37%.
Neither ISIS, the oil price nor EM shakeout can stop the machine. Iraq bringing bonds to market.
2.04pm BST
Staff at the Moscow stock exchange are racing to restart trading using a back-up system, CNBC reports:
Moscow stock exchange says it halted trading 1 hr ago after "network equipment" failure, preparing to restart trading on backup system.
1.57pm BST
Moscow's stock market appears to have suffered an unexpected problem.
Trading on the bourse was temporarily suspended a few minutes ago, with reports of an "emergency situation".
Moscow Stock Exchange has closed due to emergency situation,, wonder what that can be #stockmarket #forextrading #investing #moscow
1.37pm BST
European stock markets have pushed higher today, thanks to the upgraded eurozone growth figures.
Germany's record-breaking trade figures also cheered investors, following the news of China's slumping imports.
Following further contraction in Chinese trade terms in August, the European and the US stock indices painted the equity picture in green on strengthening belief that central banks' would not dare taking their hands off the blurry financial markets in the immediate future.
12.33pm BST
Almost every poll in Greece now shows former ruling Syriza neck and neck with centre right New Democracy.
You are stupid. I have studied at the London School of Economics, what shit have you done?"
12.29pm BST
With just 12 days until the Greek general election, political parties are releasing unusually light-hearted TV ads.
A prime example is the 37-second 'campaign' trailer put out by the anti- austerity anti-euro group Popular Unity this morning.
See p/t - Where to, mister? - The national mint. - Don't listen to their shouting. We have anti-memorandum solutions. Learn about them.
11.54am BST
Timo del Carpio, European economist at RBC Capital Markets, sees "rather encouraging" signs in today's GDP figures:
As we had expected, private consumption provided an important impulse behind the recovery in the second quarter of 2015 (as it has for the last nine quarters). But this time around, it was also accompanied by a measurable boost from net trade, which added +0.3pp to top-line growth.
At first glance this might seem somewhat out of whack with the signs of weakness in certain emerging market trading partners. However, we think it is consistent with the view that, in the short-term, that weakness should be offset by the growing recovery in other advanced economies.
11.18am BST
Today's growth data is "a double dose of modest good news" for the eurozone, says Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight.
He points out that year-on-year eurozone growth hit a four-year high of 1.5% in the second quarter, up from from 1.2% in the first thee months of 2015.
The euro and oil prices remained at highly supportive levels to Eurozone growth in the second quarter, although they were above their first quarter lows.
However, the Eurozone's ability to kick on may well have been hampered by heightened uncertainty weighing down on business and consumer confidence as the Greek crisis came to a head and concerns over global growth increased.
11.06am BST
Even with today's upward revisions, the eurozone's growth rate remains somewhat modest.
Growth rates of 0.5% in Q1, and 0.4% in Q2, are still modest by international standards, especially given the boost from cheap energy prices and the ECB's QE programme.
10.58am BST
Today's data revisions show the eurozone's recovery is on stronger foundations, argues Bloomberg's Maxime Sbaihi.
Euro area GDP revised up in both Q1 & Q2. Carry-over growth now at 1%. Domestic forces look strong enough to keep region on recovery course
10.49am BST
More good news: The eurozone's growth in the first three month of 2015 has also been revised higher, from 0.4% to 0.5%.
10.46am BST
The eurozone is growing faster than thought, after statistics body Eurostat revised its GDP figures for the last quarter.
GDP increased by 0.4% in the April-June period, not the 0.3% first estimated three weeks ago.
Euro area GDP +0.4% in Q2 2015, +1.5% compared with Q2 2014 #Eurostat http://t.co/E6qgq5NMIK pic.twitter.com/cADkTm5L43
10.19am BST
Germany is calming some of the worries about China, by reporting record-breaking trade figures for July.
Seasonally adjusted German exports climbed by 2.4% month-on-month, to a103.4bn, while imports grew 2.2% to a80.6bn. That's the biggest readings since 1991 (after reunification) when the survey began, and much stronger than economists expected.
10.03am BST
Back in the UK, hotels and coffee chain Whitbread has warned it may raise prices to cover the cost of implementing the new "national living wage".
Chancellor George Osborne announced in July's budget that the 6.50 minimum wage (for over 25s) will rise to 7.20 from next April, and reach 9.35 an hour by 2010.
Related: Costa Coffee owner to raise prices in response to national living wage
GOOD! I don't want cheap coffee if = someone not paid properly. Whitbread plans price rises to pay for living wage http://t.co/Umzp6GfCFY
9.21am BST
The decline in China's imports will have serious consequences for other countries, points out FXTM Research Analyst Lukman Otunug:
The China trade figures released overnight continued to highlight further weakness in the China economy, with both exports and imports declining.
The continual decline in imports suggests that China is shifting away from an import dependent nation to one which is encouraging consumers to look more within the domestic market for its products and services. This change in approach will translate to further weakness for economies that have become dependent on demand from China.
9.20am BST
Fact of the morning: Beijing has now spent some $236bn supporting its stock market since June.
That's according to Goldman Sachs analysts, who say China's "National Team" pumped $94bn into shares in August alone, in an attempt to manage the selloff.
Since Chinese market started falling out of bed, govt has splashed $236b trying to prop it up = @GoldmanSachs . >Peru or Portugal GDP/year
8.50am BST
In the City, shares in insurance firm Amlin have surged by 32% after Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance announced a 3.46bn takeover deal.
Amlin shares are trading at 655p, close to the 670p offer price, suggesting the deal is expected to go through.
Pound surges against yen after Japanese firm said it would buy U.K. insurer Amlin http://t.co/frUZA2T00f pic.twitter.com/s7C64JLtUt
8.38am BST
Another wild day's trading in Shanghai has ended, with the stock market up 3%.
Quite a turnaround.
Shanghai stocks now up 3% Shenzhen +4% Earlier: Shanghai: -2.3% Shenzhen: -1.8%
8.35am BST
European stock markets aren't too bothered by the Chinese trade data.
The main indices are all up around 1% in early trading:
It's been another positive start for trade in London this morning with traders clearly not feeling too unnerved by those weaker than expected trade figures out of China.
Perhaps most worrying is the 13% slump in imports, but with commodity prices seeming to have found something of a floor of late, many mining stocks are once again floating towards the upper end of the index.
8.14am BST
China has found an innovative way of preventing any more Black Mondays - close the stock market when shares fall (or rise) too much, and send everyone home.
China is planning a "circuit breaker" mechanism to prevent any further losses on its volatile stock markets as both of the country's leading indexes continued to slide.
According to draft regulation, trading would be suspended for 30 minutes when the market rose or fell by 5%. If the index went up or down by 7% or more, trading would be suspended for the day.
Related: China plans stock market 'circuit breaker' to curb volatility
8.04am BST
Economists are concerned by the fall in Chinese imports and exports last month.
Ma Guangyuan, an independent Chinese economist, says the economic picture is deteriorating.
"The August data followed the trend set in July. Now the global slowdown has very much become a reality."
"China is set to miss its export growth target for this year, and there will be no help from the external demand side for economic growth."
7.55am BST
Emerging market currencies are also weakening today, as fears of a Chinese slowdown reverberate.
The Malaysian ringgit has hit a new 17-year low against the US dollar today, amid concerns that American interest rates could soon rise .
Asia crisis 2.0: Ringgit falls for fifth day on lower oil, #China growth concern. http://t.co/qgAEEa18DG pic.twitter.com/6QyWdifXFX
7.53am BST
Investors in Tokyo baulked at the Chinese trade data too.
Japan's Nikkei fell by 2.4% by the close of trading, as nervous traders pushed up the value of the yen (which hurts exporters). That means the index has lost all its gains this year.
7.50am BST
The Shanghai stock market dropped into the red after today's trade data was released.
Curiously, though, it's now rallying in late trading, suggesting the Chinese authorities may be intervening....
And the "invisible hand" again guiding Chinese stocks higher in the last hour...CSI 300 rallies 4% - 30 min. to close pic.twitter.com/ImPDGFPLOZ
7.39am BST
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
If you're not worried about the China's economy yet, it might be time to start.
Our European opening calls: $FTSE 6085 up 10 $DAX 10137 up 28 $CAC 4559 up 10 $IBEX 9815 up 10 $MIB 21687 up 64
Futures markets picking up...#Europe looks set for higher open & US could see +1% gains pic.twitter.com/BAwJG2Khrh
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