European stock markets rebounded yesterday as traders reacted to positive Chinese data and company earnings updates, while also keeping a watch on Greek debt problems.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading shares jumped 1.28 per cent to end the day at 6,018.89 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 added 1.13 per cent to 4,052.51 points while in Frankfurt the DAX rose by 1.23 per cent to 7,501.52 points, reversing losses on Monday.
“Strong Chinese data was enough to lift demand in heavyweight mining stocks, which in turn helped to push European indices into positive territory yesterday,” said Giles Watts, head of equities at City Index traders.
China’s trade surplus ballooned to $11.4 billion (€7.9 billion) in April and exports hit a record monthly high, data showed Yesterday.
The trade surplus was far bigger than the $139 million surplus posted in March and a Dow Jones forecast for $1 billion in April.
Meanwhile, experts from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank began an audit of finances and reforms in Greece to determine if it merits a critical new slice of funding from a bailout package agreed last year.
This was just as a top ECB official warned that a Greek debt default or restructuring would hit the entire eurozone.
In Paris, the world’s biggest steel producer ArcelorMittal advanced 2.6 per cent to €25.290 in the wake of the Chinese trade figures.
Investors were also poring over company results. In London, shares in Imperial Tobacco rallied 3.11 per cent to 2,224 pence after the maker of Lambert & Butler and Gauloises cigarettes beat earnings expectations and announced a share buy-back worth £500 million (€570 million, $817 million).
However, British energy producer BG Group slid 1.60 per cent after the company said that net profits slid 37 per cent to $597 million in the first quarter amid unrest in North Africa.
Movement was also strongly upwards on most other European bourses with Milan up by 1.47 per cent, Amsterdam by 1.44 per cent and Brussels by 1.41 per cent on the day.
Swiss shares added 0.76 per cent while the Madrid bourse was up 0.76 per cent.
Bucking the upward trend was the Lisbon market which shed 0.58 percent.
US stocks continued upwards after making minor gains last Monday.
At 1600 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.39 per cent at 12,734.06 points.
The broader S&P 500 rose 0.50 per cent to 1,353.04 points while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.52 per cent to stand at 2,858.05 points.
Microsoft shares were off 1.37 per cent after the software giant announced it is buying internet phone pioneer Skype from investor group Silver Lake for $8.5 billion dollars cash, the Windows creator’s largest-ever acquisition.
In Asia yesterday, Japanese shares ended a choppy session 0.25 per cent higher, supported by upbeat corporate earnings reports, brokers said.
The benchmark Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose to close at 9,818.76 points.