Friday, June 29, 2012

Global shares rally after EU agreement

World stocks rallied today after euro zone leaders agreed on measures to cut soaring borrowing costs in Italy and Spain, in addition to directly recapitalizing regional banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 277.83 points, or 2.20 percent, at 12,880.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended up 33.12 points, or 2.49 percent, at 1,362.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 85.56 points, or 3.00 percent, at 2,935.05.

European shares extended their earlier gains to reach a fresh one-week high, on relief that a European Union summit had agreed to take action to bring down the borrowing costs of Spain and Italy, as well as new steps to shore up banks.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 2.1 percent to a fresh intraday peak of 1,016.67 points - its highest level since June 21.

Japan's Nikkei average jumped 1.5 percent today to close above the key 9,000 level for the first time in seven weeks after European leaders agreed to take emergency action to bring down borrowing costs for Italy and Spain.

The Nikkei was down 10.7 percent this quarter, however, in its worst quarterly performance since last year's July-September period, though it is still up 6.5 percent so far this year.