Europe’s leading stock markets recovered slightly yesterday as investors sought out bargains and reacted to takeover and jobs speculation after sharp losses before the weekend.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top shares rose 0.13 per cent to 5,773.46 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX rose 0.22 per cent to 7,085.14 points and in Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.07 per cent to 3,807.61 points.
Europe’s top indices had closed down between 1.25 and 1.90 percent on Friday after the European Union said it was studying a possible Greek debt “rescheduling” to ward off the threat of Greece defaulting on its massive debts.
“After the shocker that was Friday’s trading session, equities are experiencing something of a rebound,” said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital.
Elsewhere in Europe, stocks were more mixed. Lisbon closed down 0.15 per cent to 7.279.96 points. Madrid’s Ibex-35 was nearly flat losing 0.05 per cent to 9946.2 points.
In Milan, the FTSE Mib closed yesterday with a slight drop of 0.18 per cent to 20,081 points. The Brussels Bel-20 index closed down 0.13 per cent to 2,570.69 points and in Amsterdam, the AEX index closed up 0.06 percent to 334.04 points.
Markets are increasingly concerned over the state of the global economy, owing to the eurozone debt crisis and slower growth in the United States and China.
London’s biggest gainer was Eurasian Natural Resources, up 5.86 per cent to 785.5 pence on reports that it faced a possible takeover by commodities giant Glencore worth £12 billion (€13.6 billion).
Lloyds Banking Group’s share price rose nearly two per cent after weekend reports said that the state-rescued lender plans to axe 15,000 more jobs to save £1.0 billion.
LBG was up 1.94 per cent to 47.91 pence after British newspapers said the lender plans a fresh assault on jobs after already slashing 28,000 posts since 2009.
Wall Street followed also drifted upwards with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.09 per cent at 11,962.36 at 1600 GMT.
The broader S&P 500 index had gained 0.06 per cent at 1,271.68, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.06 per cent at 2,642.24.
Asian stocks were mixed Monday as heavy selling Friday on Wall Street, a stronger yen and Chinese economic fears were tempered by gains in Seoul and Hong Kong, which both broke long losing streaks. Meanwhile, the European single currency rose slightly against the dollar yesterday in light trade, amid holidays in much of Europe, despite ongoing concerns over Greek debt woes, dealers said.
The shared eurozone unit rose to $1.4374 in late London deals from $1.4348 late in New York on Friday. Against the Japanese unit, while the dollar slid to ¥80.40 from ¥80.31.
“The single currency has remained under pressure particularly against the Swiss franc where it has made new all-time lows near 1.2000, as the Swiss currency continues to act as a safe haven from the uncertainty surrounding the Greek debt situation and the loose fiscal policies of the US and UK,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
Traders remain on tenterhooks over Greece amid stubborn worries that the debt crisis could engulf fellow eurozone nations Italy and Spain.
“Divisions between the ECB and EU politicians about how best to deal with the debt situation and a default scenario continue to weigh on sentiment with Portuguese and Spanish bond yields pushing higher with Portuguese 10 year yields hitting their highest ever post euro level, at 10.7 per cent,” added Mr Hewson.