Wednesday, 24 April 2013 19:14
Posted by Abdul Ahad
LONDON: Europe's main stock markets extended gains on Wednesday on growing expectations of an interest rate cut by the ECB following poor German economic data.London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies rose 0.21 percent to stand at 6,419.49 points in afternoon deals, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 0.60 percent to 7,703.97 points and in Paris the CAC 40 won 0.97 percent to 3,819.89 points.In foreign exchange trade, the euro dipped to $1.2990 from $1.2997 late on Tuesday in New York. The dollar which again neared the 100 yen level in early trading, stabilised back to 99.44 yen compared to 99.48 on Tuesday.On the London Bullion Market, gold climbed to $1,424.50 an ounce from $1,408 Tuesday."Following yesterday's weak PMI (private sector economic) data we have had a poor German IFO survey, further reinforcing market speculation of a rate cut from the ECB," noted CMC Markets trader Nick Dale-Lace.German business confidence took ...