A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks posted healthy gains on Tuesday after a volatile day of trading driven by more twists and turns in Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.73 points (0.40 per cent) to close at 11,105.85.
The broader S&P 500 climbed 10.60 points (0.91 per cent) to 1,172.87, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 37.06 points (1.49 per cent) to 2,532.15.
A late rally capped off a rollercoaster day as investors hoped that talks on Wednesday between the leaders of Germany, France and Greece would help rein in the financial turmoil emanating from the eurozone.
On Wall Street, industrials and tech companies were the strongest performers on the Dow’s 30 list of blue-chip stocks, with General Electric surging 2.7 per cent, Intel rising 2.4 per cent and Cisco gaining 1.6 per cent.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note increased to 1.99 per cent from 1.93 per cent late Monday, while that on the 30-year bond rose to 3.32 per cent from 3.24 per cent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
LONDON – European stocks have closed higher after seesawing wildly amid unsubstantiated rumours that Germany and France had a new plan for Greece and that China was in talks to buy Italian bonds.
In foreign exchange trade, the euro ended down slightly against the US dollar at $1.3674 from $1.3680 on Monday. The dollar fell to 76.95 yen from 77.15 late on Monday.
After much volatility, London’s FTSE-100 index of leading shares rose 0.87 per cent at 5,174.25 points. In Paris the CAC-40 gained 1.41 per cent to 2,894.93 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX jumped 1.85 per cent to 5,166.36 points.
Elsewhere in Europe Milan gained 2.19 per cent, Madrid 2.53 per cent, Lisbon 0.63 per cent, Zurich 1.06 per cent and Brussels 0.83 per cent.
Banking shares had led a morning plunge, but recovered in a big way. At the close, Societe Generale climbed nearly 15.0 per cent, and BNP Paribas was up 7.20 per cent after earlier dropping 10 per cent.
Italy on Tuesday placed bonds worth close to 6.5 billion euros ($8.8 billion) but the yield it had to offer reached a new high level, the Bank of Italy said, revealing a marked lack of investor confidence.
HONG KONG – Asian markets were mostly lower as optimism over reports that China was in talks to buy huge amounts of Italian bonds was outweighed by ongoing concerns about the wider eurozone debt crisis.
The euro clawed back some of the heavy losses it suffered on Monday, when it hit a 10-year low versus the yen, but it remained under pressure as traders stayed risk-averse because of a lack of indicators to push it upwards.
Tokyo rose 0.95 per cent, or 80.88 points, to 8,616.55 and Sydney was 0.85 per cent, or 34.2 points, higher at 4,072.7.
Shanghai, which was closed on Monday, ended 1.06 per cent, or 26.45 points, lower at 2,471.30 as it played catch-up with the previous session’s huge regional losses, while dealers were still jittery about the state of China’s economy.
Taipei, which was also closed on Monday for a holiday, tumbled 2.88 per cent, or 219.20 points, to end at 7,391.37.
Hong Kong and Seoul were closed for the mid-autumn public holidays.
Singapore fell 0.52 per cent, 14.21 points, to close at 2,729.37.
WELLINGTON – Wellington added 0.66 per cent, or 21.60 points, to 3,285.41.
