Stocks rise worldwide as global economy looks brighter, while IG considers Bitcoins
Stocks around the world have risen on the back of various central banks across the globe easing their monetary policies. Recent confidence in the global economy to drag itself out of recession has also gone a long way to drive the markets on. The FTSE All-World was up to 245.4, the highest it has been in almost five years.
Recently the Bank of Japan announced the biggest quantitative easing programme in history as it battles its two decade old deflation problem, while the Federal Reserve announced an asset purchasing programme of its own which is expected to have a lasting impact on the growth of the global economy.
The S&P 500 saw records fall on Monday as it hit 1,617.5, while the Nikkei 225 joined it with gains of 3.6% — trading above 14,000 for the first time in 5 years.
Forex
The Japanese Yen has continued to fall against the greenback and the British pound, which also made gains against the dollar. Unfortunately, as Britain stares down the barrel of another recession, the growth is not expected to last. Comments from the Bank of England, the nation’s central bank, even go as far as to suggest that a fresh round of quantitative easing could be on the horizon. While this is unlikely to have an effect on the currency on the scale that we have seen with the Yen over the last month or so, it would certainly hurt the currencies overall value — despite suggestions that there will be increased demand for the sterling in the near future due to industrial changes.
Bitcoin could be regulated, while IG consider move into the market
Bitcoins, a popular virtual, digital currency, could soon face regulation from the United States. The currency was created on the idea that a currency without government interference would be a better solution than its physical counterparts. In fact, due to the way it is “mined”, it is considered by many to be more of a commodity. Whatever way it is viewed, the public have not responded well. Many users of Bitcoins claim that the US, nor any other country, has jurisdiction over Bitcoins.
Regardless of this news, IG has announced that it may be expanding its services to allow its customers to trade on them. This is a very interesting development and one that will certainly have caught the attention of our readers, so naturally we will be following this very closely over the coming weeks and seeking further information from the broker themselves.
