Abu Dhabi

European equity indices surged on Tuesday in early trade, rebounding from the losses seen in the past two trade sessions after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

London’s FTSE 100 index jumped 2.22 per cent in the first hour of trade (or 133 points) to 6,115.29, while the FTSE 250 index, which is more UK-centric, rose 2.74 per cent (or 410 points).

Similarly, Germany’s DAX was up 2.24 per cent shortly after opening, as France’s CAC 40 advanced 2.5 per cent, and Italy’s benchmark rose 4.39 per cent.

Analysts attributed the rebound to bargain hunters who are now finding relatively attractive prices after shares tanked in the double digits throughout Friday and Monday. Fundamentally, the rebound is unjustifiable, though, as the UK still faces plenty of uncertainty both on the political and economic fronts.

In the US, equity futures climbed, signalling that the S&P 500 index may rise for the first time since Friday’s Brexit vote. The index ended trade on Monday with a 1.81 per cent decline.

Meanwhile, in Asia, equity markets were nearly flat as investors speculated that central banks may move to ease market turmoil.

More than $974 billion have been wiped from S&P 500 stock values in the past two days alone — the third most in history — Bloomberg said, citing data compiled by S&P Dow Jones indices.

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister, said Japan will be monitoring markets closely. Analysts speculating that would mean looser policies from central banks not just in Japan but in other countries, too.

Almost an hour before trade closed, the Hang Seng index was down 0.51 per cent, as Japans’ Topix slid 0.09 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite closed nearly 0.6 per cent up.

In the UAE, the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index was moving in narrow ranges of nearly 20 points in early trade, rising 0.44 per cent to 3,300 shortly after noon (UAE time). Abu Dhabi’s benchmark was down 0.35 per cent to 4,418.

This comes after a volatile session on Sunday when the DFM index fell as much as 4.7 per cent only a few minutes after trade began, bouncing back slightly on Monday to end 0.8 per cent higher.

— With inputs from Bloomberg