Shares rise as Europe steps up action to aid banks

Shares around the world jumped Thursday amid moves by European policymakers to prevent the region's debt crisis from turning into a banking crisis, according to dpa. The pickup in stocks followed an announcement by the European Central Bank of the launch of new emergency measures to boost liquidity for banks in the 17-member eurozone, as well as fresh moves by the Bank of England to underpin economic growth in Britain. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index ended the day up 2.45 per cent at 229.64 points. The increase in stocks also followed hopes that European leaders would agree to measures helping the eurozone banks to deal with their exposure to nations hit by the debt crisis. The rise in the Stoxx 600 index came after it had finished up a solid 3.08 per cent on Tuesday. While the London stock market was up almost 4 per cent as the trading day ended, shares in both Paris and Frankfurt were up more than 3 per cent. The rises tracked sharp increases in Asia. As the trading day came to an end in Europe, shares in New York were also trading up about 1 per cent. The euro bounded up by 0.6 per cent to 1.3426 dollars in late trading.