WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is keeping close tabs on the world’s financial markets after the London explosions, Treasury Secretary John Snow said Thursday.
“I will stay in touch with world financial leaders,” Snow said.
His comments were made during a trip to Omaha, Neb., where he was talking to business leaders about the nation’s economy and President Bush’s plans to overhaul Social Security.
The Treasury chief echoed Bush’s remarks decrying the “horrific acts” that took place in London.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials, down early in the session, closed up 31.61 points at 10,302.29, as investors were heartened when the United States said there was “no specific credible evidence” of a pending attack in this country.
In European markets, however, stocks dropped. Britain’s key stock index, the FTSE 100, fell 71.30 points to close at 5,158.30, after falling nearly 200 points earlier in the day.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said he did not believe the attacks “will have any serious impact” on markets in the long term.
Trichet said he had spoken with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Bank of England head Mervyn King and concluded that financial systems were working normally.
While the emotional toll of the blasts is big, the economic impact should be limited and temporary, said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight. “The U.K. economy is so large and diversified that the economic disruption from events like these is limited,” he said.
Snow said he offered his British counterpart, Treasury chief Gordon Brown, “our help and assistance as they deal with this tragic situation.”
The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, is healthy and resilient, and “we intend to keep it that way,” Snow said.
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