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European markets track Asia higher after US gains
2008-11-27
LONDON - European stock markets closed higher Thursday in the wake of earlier gains in Asia and Wall Street's fourth consecutive rise on Wednesday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Indian markets were closed after deadly attacks in the country's financial capital. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 73.41 points, or 1.8 percent, at 4,226.10, while Germany's DAX was 104.77 points, or 2.3 percent, higher at 4,665.27. The CAC-40 in France was 80.54 points, or 2.5 percent, higher at 3,250.39. U.S. markets were closed for Thanksgiving. Banks across Europe, including Standard Chartered PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, UBS AG and Societe Generale SA, did well, while heavyweight energy stocks such as BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell and Total SA firmed following Wednesday's 8 percent rally in the price of oil. Europe's gains came as Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average added almost 2 percent to 8,373.39 points, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng benchmark rose 1.4 percent to 13,552.06. The rise in European and Asian markets came after Wall Street reversed early losses Wednesday to end up solidly in the black. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 2.9 percent higher at 8,726.61, its first four-day winning streak since April 15-18. Meanwhile, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 3.5 percent, to close at 887.68. The Dow has risen 15.6 percent in the last four days, its biggest four-day percentage gain since 1932. The S&P 500's four-day rally was its first since May. The rally on Wall Street came despite further poor news on the U.S. economy. Figures showed durable goods orders in October slumped by a two-year high rate of 6.2 percent, new home sales at a 17-year low and consumer sentiment languishing at a 28-year low. "Four straight days of the S&P rising not only provides a welcome respite for markets it makes a half decent 'Thanksgiving Day' present," said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners. There are some hopes in markets that a raft of policy measures around the world, such as the rescue of Citigroup Inc., may limit the scale of the global downturn next year, though the upcoming Christmas sales period is not expected to be particularly good for retailers. Britain's home improvements firm Kingfisher PLC was down 6 percent Thursday after predicting a gloomy 2009 and investors took fright at the news that general retailer Woolworths PLC has been put into administration after its creditors effectively pulled the plug. In the U.S., investors are responding to President-elect Barack Obama's pledge to have an economic plan to deal with the crisis on his first day in office in mid-January and mounting expectations that the U.S. government will bail out troubled automaker General Motors Corp. Investors also cheered China's 1.08 percentage-point rate cut to spur private borrowing and support a multibillion-dollar stimulus package to keep the country's economy -- a key engine of growth in Asia and elsewhere -- from slowing too fast. Across Asia, commodity and shipping stocks soared on hopes that China's rate cut -- the fourth in three months -- would underpin demand for metal, oil and other resources as well as the means to transport them. "Overall investors are still cautious and waiting to see how things turn out, but there is definitely relief that the financial system is going to be supported by governments around the world," said D. Gorton, research analyst at Louis Capital Markets in Hong Kong. Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. gained 5.7 percent, and No. 2 Chinese steel maker Angang surged 7.3 percent in Hong Kong. Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., the world's biggest cargo shipper, jumped 7.4 percent. Elsewhere in Asia, mainland China Shanghai Composite index rose 1.1 percent to 1,917.86, after gaining as much as 3.7 percent. Markets in South Korea, Taiwan and Australia also were higher. In India, markets were closed after coordinated attacks by teams of gunmen across Mumbai, the country's financial capital, killed at least 101 people. Thai shares traded 1 percent lower after authorities shut down Bangkok's second airport Thursday after it was overrun by anti-government protesters, completely cutting off the capital from air traffic as the country's political crisis deepened. Oil prices were down slightly Thursday after rallying 8 percent the previous session. The January contract was down $0.47 to $53.97 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In currencies, the dollar was steady at 95.55 yen, while the euro was unchanged at $1.2878. ___ AP Business Writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
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