LONDON: World stocks put in solid gains on Tuesday as concerns eased about the impact of Japan's triple disaster on world growth prospects and traders in Tokyo returned from a national holiday to recoup some of last week's losses.
Buyers expecting the economy will also ride out continuing unrest in the Middle East emerged to tap cheap valuations, while the euro rose to its highest in four and a half months against the dollar.
The conflict in Libya, while unrest bubbles in other Arab states, kept oil prices high and boosted gold, used as a hedge against rising security concerns.
But after a strong sell-off following Japan's earthquake and tsunami, investors have begun to return to equity markets. Reports of progress in containing radiation leaks at the Fukushima plant helped Tokyo shares rally 4 percent.
"The global multispeed recovery remains on a steady path, with most economies set to experience at- or near-potential growth in 2011," Roubini Global Economics macroeconomic team said in a note.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was 0.5 percent higher at 1,113.23 points at 0944 GMT after surging 1.8 percent in the previous session, buoyed by merger and acquisition news in the telecom sector.
US stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 all up 0.2 percent.
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