Euro stocks up
Friday, 19 September 2008
FRANKFURT, Sept 18 (AP): European stocks halted three days of losses in early afternoon trading Thursday, rising slightly after a concerted effort by central banks to pump billions more US dollars into troubled money markets and limit the global financial crisis.
Britain's FTSE-100 was up 1.60 per cent after Lloyds TSB PLC's 12.2 billion-pound (US$21.8 billion) deal to acquire struggling HBOS PLC, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, eased some concern among traders there.
"The acquisition will strengthen the presence of Lloyds on the UK market," said Ivanka Stefanova, a credit analyst with UniCredit in Munich.
In Frankfurt, the German DAX was up nearly 1.0 per cent, lifted in part by shares of Deutsche Boerse AG, which rose nearly 11 per cent, as well as automaker Volkswagen AG, whom investors believe will likely be completely taken over by Porsche SE in the coming weeks. That pushed shares of Europe's biggest automaker up more than 10.10 per cent in trading.
Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank by assets, saw its shares rise more than 4.0 per cent to euro52.44.
Analysts said the gains in European markets were largely the result of the announcement by the European Central Bank, Federal Reserve and central banks in Switzerland, Japan, Britain and Canada, to provide as much as $180 billion in extra dollars to cash-starved banks.
Britain's FTSE-100 was up 1.60 per cent after Lloyds TSB PLC's 12.2 billion-pound (US$21.8 billion) deal to acquire struggling HBOS PLC, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, eased some concern among traders there.
"The acquisition will strengthen the presence of Lloyds on the UK market," said Ivanka Stefanova, a credit analyst with UniCredit in Munich.
In Frankfurt, the German DAX was up nearly 1.0 per cent, lifted in part by shares of Deutsche Boerse AG, which rose nearly 11 per cent, as well as automaker Volkswagen AG, whom investors believe will likely be completely taken over by Porsche SE in the coming weeks. That pushed shares of Europe's biggest automaker up more than 10.10 per cent in trading.
Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank by assets, saw its shares rise more than 4.0 per cent to euro52.44.
Analysts said the gains in European markets were largely the result of the announcement by the European Central Bank, Federal Reserve and central banks in Switzerland, Japan, Britain and Canada, to provide as much as $180 billion in extra dollars to cash-starved banks.