Market overview: FTSE ends up 3.56% as China woes recede

1630 (close): The FTSE 100 ended up 3.56% to 6,192 points as fears on China's slowdown eased after further stimulus from the central bank. The People’s Bank of China on Wednesday announced it would pump 140bn yuan of stimulus into the economy a day after cutting interest rates, the deposit facility and the reserve rate ratio. After Asian markets closed, reports emerged that China's government secretly intervened to bolster equities through the acquisition of blue-chip stocks. Also providing a boost, the final reading of second quarter US gross domestic product was revised to 3.7% growth from an initial estimate of 2.3%. Economists had pencilled in a 3.2% gain. In companies, miners were higher as metal prices advanced.

1600: The rebound seen in stocks may not go much further as investors remain cautious, according to analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets. "The actions from the PBOC coupled with accommodative statements from the Fed’s Dudley and the ECB’s Praet have so far proven enough. The risk is that investors are too rattled to take markets much higher and this ends up being a dead-cat bounce before another sharp decline."

1503: US pending home sales edged higher in July, data released on Thursday showed. The index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) climbed 0.5% month-on-month in July, reversing the previous month's decline and climbing 7.3% year-on-year.

1405: The US economy grew at a faster pace in the second quarter than previously estimated, figures released on Thursday showed. According to the Commerce Department, gross domestic product expanded by an annualised 3.7% in the three months to June, compared with an initial estimate of 2.3% and ahead of analysts’ expectations calling for a 3.2% increase.

1330: Initial US unemployment claims fell, data released on Thursday showed. In the week ended 22 August initial claims declined by 6,000 to reach 271,000, according to figures published by the Department of Labor, falling below the 275,000 level analysts expected. The figure marked the 25th consecutive week initial claims have remained below the 300,000 level, the longest stretch in 15 years.The four-week moving average rose by 1,000 to reach 272,500, while continuing jobless claims in the week to 15 August rose by 13,000 from the previous week to 2.27m.

1130: Funds flowed more freely inside the Eurozone in July, possibly forestalling any need for further stimulus from the European Central Bank, some economists said. The rate of growth in the money supply as measured by the M3 monetary aggregate reached a 5.3% year-on-year pace last month, following an upwardly revised reading of 5% for June, according to data from the ECB.

1004: Chinese authorities are said to have intervened today to shore up its stockmarket ahead of a key military parade on 3 September, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Before today Shanghai equities registered their worst five day stretch since 1996.

0844: Stocks reached for the sky at the start of trading in the wake of strong gains overnight on Wall Street and in Shanghai stocks. The Nasdaq-100 registered its largest one day rally since March 2009. Worth noting, Chinese shares saw all their gains accrue in the last hour of trading after having earlier traded in the red. The PBoC injected another $23.4bn in reverse seven day repors to help ease liquidity tensions in the financial system. A spate of economic data is scheduled for release later in the session Stateside. Front month Brent crude futures are rising by 3% in the early going, having reached $44.39 per barrel on the ICE.