Market confidence may be short-lived

IN Britain, the FTSE 100 hit a one--month high yesterday buoyed by news in the US that chief executives in the US were standing by their audited accounts.

But the confidence could be short-lived as another key indicator in the US yesterday highlighted continuing weakness in the economy. One more negative sign and the Fed will definitely cut rates on 24 September, said leading economist Niall Dunne of Ulster Bank Markets.

So far in the trawl of US companies the news from the Securities and Exchange Commission has been positive, which helped boost stock markets yesterday, especially in Britain which more than made up the 2.5% loss in value on Tuesday.