FTSE 100 holding firm as China Cuts Rates

In the wake of two consecutive days of gains, the FTSE 100 is fighting to hold momentum on Wednesday. The index started the day lower by almost 0.4% before fighting back to 8290 and returning green on the day so far and continuing the trend set by China's significant financial stimulus announcement.

Directing investor attention once more to China, this time the central bank of the world's second-largest economy grabbed the headlines by slashing its medium-term lending facility rate from 2.3% to 2.0%. This move marks the most substantial reduction for one-year loans that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) has ever enacted. Alongside the interest rate cut, PBOC also unveiled a 300 billion yuan (about $43 billion) lending package to the nation's financial institutions, intending to rejuvenate demand and spur a more vigorous economic recovery.

The Chinese stimulus is the most aggressive since the pandemic and aims to reignite growth and investment. The focus of these measures mainly hinges upon the stock market and the real estate sector. In the immediate aftermath of these measures, Chinese markets and the SSE index witnessed a surge, gaining strong early before ending the session up 1.16%.

A noteworthy development in the UK property sector came from Rightmove (LON:RMV), a UK-based real estate portal, firmly rejecting a £6.1 billion takeover approach from REA Group. Rightmove has argued that the bid from the Australian online real estate advertising company grossly undervalues its current worth and its prospective financial health.

Rasberry Pi shares (LON: RPI) are another on the move today, gaining a little over 3% so far to bring the weekly appreciation to 13.25%.