Stocks rise on Germany bailout boost, US growth

LONDON: European and US stock markets jumped on Thursday after Germany's parliament voted overwhelmingly to boost the eurozone rescue fund and positive US growth and unemployment figures.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index rose 1.52 percent at 5,555.07 points, Paris' CAC 40 advanced 1.8 percent to 3,050.06 points, while in London the FTSE 100 added 0.37 percent to 5,237.16. Madrid won 1.57 percent and Milan shot up 2.17 percent.

Wall Street opened strongly after a revision of second quarter US growth to 1.3 percent from 1.0 percent, and US jobless claims falling sharply last week to 391,000, their lowest level since April.

Ten minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.85 percent, while the broader S&P 500 added 1.7 percent, and the Nasdaq gained 1.6 percent.

The German parliament passed a beefed-up rescue fund for stricken eurozone countries by a large majority on Thursday in a vote seen as crucial to stem financial market turmoil.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile averted political disaster as an overwhelming majority of her own deputies voted in favour of the proposal.

The vote before the Bundestag lower house on expanding the 440-billion-euro ($599 billion) bailout fund was also seen as a crucial test of Merkel's authority amid fears of a major backbench rebellion.

"Stocks jumped ... as investors digested news that the German parliament had easily passed a vote to allow the July changes to the EFSF rescue fund, although the euro fell back from its highs of the session," said Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at traders Forex.com.

The European single currency climbed to $1.3613 from $1.3536 late in New York on Wednesday. The dollar rose to 76.73 yen from 76.53 yen on Wednesday.

"The euro has managed to sustain the rally that began on Monday; however news that Germany had passed the vote on the EFSF hasn't triggered a relief rally," Brooks said.

"This could be because a lot was priced in already, but the euro may remain stuck in a range for some time yet."

German deputies voted by 523 to 85 in favour of expanding the size and the scope of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). Three abstained.

Germany became the 11th of 17 eurozone states to agree to beef up the EFSF and hand it new powers, for example to buy bonds of struggling nations.

Also on Thursday, international auditors resumed talks in Greece to decide whether the government in Athens was doing enough to merit more financial aid, amid mounting social tension over the government's austerity measures.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has said that Athens was making a "superhuman effort" to bring down its debt.

Asian stock markets also mostly rose on Thursday, with Tokyo closing up 0.99 percent and Seoul rallying 2.68 percent. Sydney, however, slipped 0.77 percent. Hong Kong was closed due to a typhoon.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011