A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks posted solid gains Wednesday as investors took heart from signs of progress in Europe in dealing with the eurozone debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 102.55 points (0.90 per cent) to close at 11,518.85, while the S&P 500, a broader measure of the markets, climbed 11.71 points (0.98 per cent) to 1,207.25.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 21.70 points (0.84 per cent) to 2,604.73,
A day after Slovakia blocked an expansion of the eurozone emergency fund in parliament, Slovak political parties agreed Wednesday to hold a new vote this week that they said would see it approved by Friday.
All the other 16 eurozone members have already ratified the plan to enhance the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a tool created last year after debt-riddled Greece took a bailout from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said that European banks “urgently” needed to recapitalise to weather the sovereign debt storm.
Wall Street investors also digested the minutes of the last Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting released on Wednesday, which showed that some participants wanted the central bank to resume large-scale asset purchases, or quantitative easing, to boost the weak economy.
The bond market extended Tuesday’s losses. The yield on the 10-year Treasury advanced to 2.23 per cent from 2.16 per cent late Tuesday, while that on the 30-year Treasury rose to 3.21 per cent from 3.11 per cent.
LONDON – European stocks rose and the euro hit a three-week dollar high as markets absorbed new proposals from the European Union to battle the debt crisis and news that Slovakia would soon back expansion of a eurozone rescue fund despite a initial vote against it.
Paris’s CAC 40 index ended the day up 2.42 per cent to 3,229.76 points, while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index gained 2.21 per cent to 5,994.47 points, having crossed the 6,000 point level during the afternoon.
London’s FTSE-100 rose 0.85 per cent to 5,441.8 points. Milan jumped 2.93 per cent and Madrid climbed 2.05 per cent.
In foreign exchange deals, the euro surged to $1.3816, the highest level since mid-September, before falling back slightly to 1.3802, but still up strongly from $1.3660 in New York on Tuesday. The dollar rose to 77.31 yen from 76.66 yen.
HONG KONG – Asian shares were mixed with some markets reversing morning losses as fears eased over a Slovakia vote that blocked expansion of a key eurozone bailout fund.
Sydney lost 0.55 per cent, or 23.3 points, to 4204.3 and Tokyo closed 0.40 per cent, or 34.78 points, lower at 8738.90 but Seoul ended 0.81 per cent, or 14.48 points, up at 1809.50.
Also reversing a morning dip into negative territory, Hong Kong was 1.03 per cent higher after the break. Shanghai surged 2.24 per cent in afternoon after it had earlier hit a more than 30-month low.
Resource firms in Australia dipped after Alcoa said on Tuesday that third-quarter net profit tripled from a year earlier, but almost halved from the previous quarter as metal prices fell and the European economy stumbled.
BHP Billiton finished down 0.83 per cent, Rio Tinto eased 0.79 per cent and Woodside Petroleum was 0.65 per cent weaker.
On currency markets the euro clawed back morning losses and gained in Asian afternoon trade. It bought $US1.3656 in Tokyo, up from $US1.3636 late on Tuesday in New York while it also edged up to 104.72 yen against 104.52 yen.
WELLINGTON – Wellington fell 2.09 per cent, or 71.03 points, to 3325.12.
Fletcher Building fell 12.4 per cent to $NZ6.92.
