European stock markets rallied broadly after a successful Portuguese bond auction allayed near-term fears about the spread of the euro-zone debt crisis.
Portugal successfully sold €1.25 billion ($1.62 billion) of government bonds, in what was viewed as a test of investor sentiment.
"It's one of those days where there's been a wave of euphoria passing through the market," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, co-founder of Seven Investment Management.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1.4% to end at 285.79, hitting its highest level since September 2008.
In Portugal, the PSI 20 index rose 2.6%, helped by a 3.3% gain for retailer Jeronimo Martins SGPS, which reported a 19% increase in annual sales. Banco Espirito Santo rallied 5.8%.
In Athens, the ASE Composite stock index soared 5%. National Bank of Greece rose nearly 8%. In Madrid, the IBEX 35 index surged 5.4% to 10101.20, driven by financials. Banco Santander and rival Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria each soared 10%. Italy's FTSE MIB index rose 3.8% to 21116.30. UniCredit rallied 9.7% and Intesa Sanpaolo soared more than 10%.
Despite Wednesday's rally, analysts expressed caution. Oliver Gilvarry, head of research at Dolmen Stockbrokers, said the underlying problems for indebted euro-zone nations remain.
"Portugal is paying 4% on its two-year debt when underlying growth this year is likely to be negative. That's unsustainable," Mr. Gilvarry said.
Elsewhere, the French CAC 40 index ended up 2.2% at 3945.07, helped by aerospace groupEADS. Its shares rose 2.1% after its Airbus unit announced an order for 180 aircraft from Indian budget carrier IndiGo
In Germany, the DAX 30 index gained 1.8% to 7068.78. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed up 0.6% at 6050.72.
Asian markets strengthened on Wednesday as resource shares got a lift from a jump in commodities prices.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.5% to 24125.61, China's Shanghai Composite added 0.6% to 2821.31 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.3% to 4724.21. India's Sensex snapped a six-day losing streak, rising 1.8% to 19534.10. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended up 0.02% at 10512.80.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto rose 1.3% each in Sydney, Aluminum Corp. of China gained 1.9% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai, and Sterlite Industries added 6.5% in Mumbai.
A rise in crude-oil prices helped the shares of Chinese coal miners. Yanzhou Coal Mining rose 2.6% and China Coal gained 0.9% in Shanghai; in Hong Kong, they rose 1.8% and 2.1%, respectively.
In Seoul, the Kospi rose 0.3% to 2094.95 amid caution ahead of the Bank of Korea's policy meeting and interest-rate decision on Thursday.
Shares in the Ruentex group of companies were higher after American International Grouppicked the consortium to buy its Taiwan life-insurance unit. Supermarket operator Ruentex Development rose 2.7%, cement-and-chemical-fiber maker Ruentex Industries added 4.8% and footwear maker Pou Chen climbed 3.2%.
No comments:
Post a Comment