Stocks, euro surge as summit delivers

World stock markets surged yesterday propelled by bank shares, and the euro jumped against the dollar after a key EU summit delivered surprise emergency measures to fight the eurozone debt crisis. The Madrid and Rome markets were the biggest gainers after emergency aid to crisis-hit Spain and Italy was announced following marathon talks at a summit to save the ailing single currency. “European equities are trading sharply higher... after intense negotiations between EU leaders lasting till early morning rather surprisingly yielded an agreement,” said ETX Capital trader Markus Huber. “It needs to be seen however if these developments and measures are indeed enough to calm markets long-term with periphery bond yields establishing a firm downward trend or if relief is only temporary.” In Frankfurt the DAX 30 rose 4.33% to 6,416.28 points and Paris’ CAC 40 soared 4.75% to 3,196.65 points. Milan rocketed up by 6.59%, Madrid by 5.66% and Athens by 5.68%. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day up 1.42% at 5,571.15 points, with a series of banking scandals tempering enthusiasm. Among individual shares, Spanish bank BBVA soared 9%, French lender BNP Paribas rallied 9.7% and Deutsche Bank won 5.91%. British banks’ gains were less robust after HSBC and Barclays were ordered by the country’s financial watchdog to compensate businesses for “serious failings” over the sale of complex products. In foreign exchange deals meanwhile, the euro soared to $1.2675 from $1.2442 late in New York on Thursday. On European bond markets, the Spanish 10-year rate fell to 6.472% in afternoon trading from 6.896% on Thursday, with the difference between its borrowing costs and those of Germany—a key measure of market tension—falling back below five percentage points. The yield on 10-year Italian bonds also dropped, easing to 5.866% compared to 6.182% on Thursday. Germany’s 10-year bond yield rose to 1.627% from 1.512%, while France’s nudged up to 2.698% from 2.664%. Wall Street also surged, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 1.74% at 12,820.98 points in midday trade. The S&P 500 index gained 1.94% to 1,354.87 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq jumped 2.36% to 2,916.65. The accord struck in Brussels paves the way for the eurozone’s €500bn bailout fund to recapitalise ailing banks directly, without passing through national budgets and adding to struggling countries’ debt mountains. But this would occur only after a Europe-wide banking supervisory body is set up, with leaders aiming for that to happen at the end of the year. It was also agreed the bailout funds would be used “in a flexible and efficient manner in order to stabilise markets,” a reference to buying countries’ bonds to drive down high borrowing costs that have crippled Spain and Italy. from gulf times.