European stocks end up on ECB rate-cut hint

Europe's main stock markets closed higher on Thursday after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi hinted that policymakers were prepared to cut rates in June. The euro hit a two-and-a-half-year peak near $ 1.40 after the ECB held interest rates at a record low for the seventh straight month, but then dived on hints of more easing. London’s FTSE 100 index of top companies rallied 0.63 per cent to close at 6,839.25 points. Germany’s DAX 30 jumped 0.90% to finish at 9,607.40 points and the CAC-40 in Paris leapt 1.37% to end the day at 4,507.24 compared with Wednesday’s close. The Bank of England had kept its key interest rate at a record-low 0.50% and maintained its cash stimulus at £375 billion. Analysts said that apparently conciliatory comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine crisis on Wednesday may have also boosted market confidence. On the corporate front, shares in Barclays surged to the top of London’s main index after the embattled British bank announced plans to cut 19,000 jobs by 2016. The lender said it will shrink its investment bank unit as part of plans to axe a larger-than-expected 14,000 jobs across the entire group this year. Shares surged 7.87% to finish the day at 262.45 pence, according to AFP.