Euro stocks hit five month high on Greek debt progress; DAX up 0.50 %
Published Jan 23, 2012 12:30PM ET
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX advanced 0.60%, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.51%, while Germany's DAX added 0.50%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 soared 0.94%.
The Financial Times Deutschland reported that negotiators for Greece have broadly agreed on the terms of a debt swap. However, the parties are still trying to agree on coupons.
France's Finance Minister, Francois Baroin, stated that Greek debt negotiations are making tangible progress, while German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble made clear that he is confident the will be completed.
Meanwhile, bondholders negotiating the debt swap said they made their maximum offer leaving it up to the European Union and International Monetary Fund to decide whether or not to take the deal.
Nigel Bolton of BlackRock International told Bloomberg, "In the short term we are still very much in the hands of politicians and regulators and the statements that come out of them. As long as we see the continuation of progress that we started in November, then I think the market can continue higher."
Banks and financials led the rally with Commerzbank soaring 11%, KBC
Groep climbing 5.1% and Societe Generale advanced 7.4% on the session.
Outokumpo jumped higher by 12% on ThyssenKrup saying it is in talks to merge its Inoxum stainless steel unit with the company.
Utilities did not participate in the rally with GDF Suez and RWE AG giving back 3.2% and 2.3 respectively on Barclay's analyst's reports.
Weir group fell 3.6% after JPMorgan cut the mining equipment maker to "neutral" from "overweight."
U.S. stocks were lower mid session with the Dow30 down 0.21%, the S&P500 off by 0.15% and the Nasdaq down 0.28%.
Investors are awaiting preliminary manufacturing and service sector data in the euro zone on Tuesday, as well as the Bank of Japan's interest rate statement and press conference.
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Written By: Investing.com
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