European stock markets rose on Monday on growing signs that a new bailout for Greece could be finalised at last while sentiment got a boost by the latest Chinese move to ease credit.
In late morning deals, London's FTSE 100 gained 0.79 percent to 5,951.32 points, the Paris CAC 40 added 0.87 percent to 3,469.70 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 1.41 percent to 6,944.50.
The European single currency advanced to $1.3220 from $1.3141 in New York late on Friday, gaining ground as investors became more willing to take risks. US markets were shut for a public holiday on Monday.
"The key event today remains the meeting of EU finance ministers which reports have suggested could well see the ratification of the latest Greek bailout," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
"The markets certainly think that the odds are good ... as the euro and (stocks) have continued to rise."
Eurozone finance ministers meet yet again on Monday on Greek debt and this time seem to have tightened the corset of conditions tightly enough to approve a massive rescue and avert an imminent default.
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos flew into Brussels to join the talks among eurozone finance ministers and secure a 130-billion-euro ($171 billion) bailout and a writedown on privately-held debt worth 100 billion euros.
"We have all the elements for an accord," French Finance Minister Francois Baroin told Europe 1 radio ahead of the 3:30 pm (1430 GMT) talks. "That is what I will argue as finance minister this evening."
The negotiations have lasted for six months and have been on a knife edge in the last few weeks, with Greece appearing to totter between a rescue and eviction from the eurozone.
Most analysts consider that if Greece were to default, the consequences for the Greek people would be catastrophic, but possibly not now so dangerous for the rest of the eurozone as would have been the case last year.
The bond swap with private investors could be launched on Wednesday, on time for Athens as it faces debt repayments of about 14.5 billion euros on March 20.
"Progress out of Greece over the weekend has been the primary driver of the latest round of risk-on trade," said analyst Joel Kruger at trading website DailyFX.
"Today's Eurogroup meeting should therefore be an important moment for the process and help to at least get this saga somewhat out of the way," he said.
"Overall, Monday's session .. should be taken with a grain of salt as more time is needed to see how things play out with Greece.
"The US markets are also closed for the long holiday weekend which makes the price action even less reliable. We would therefore recommend proceeding with caution."
Asian shares mostly rose earlier on Monday, also driven by a Chinese move at the weekend to loosen monetary policy.
China's central bank said on Saturday it would cut commercial banks' reserve requirement ratio by 0.50 percentage points from February 24 to ease restrictions on lending and boost slowing economic growth.
The move, the second since November, comes as Beijing looks to ease restrictions put in place to curb surging inflation and property prices amid fears that the Asian powerhouse economy was slowing too quickly.
"China continues to be a big driver behind sentiment and appetite towards risk as the world's second-biggest economy remains critical to the future of global growth and expectations," said Capital Spreads analyst Simon Denham.
"The authorities there are as desperate as everyone else to try and avoid a major meltdown or 'hard landing' of their economy, so actions like this will help in avoiding a crash."
Shanghai ended up 0.27 percent while Hong Kong slipped back to close down 0.31 percent on profit-taking.
Tokyo shrugged off a record monthly trade deficit of 1.475 trillion yen to close up 1.08 percent and Sydney added 1.4 percent.
yahoo.com
In late morning deals, London's FTSE 100 gained 0.79 percent to 5,951.32 points, the Paris CAC 40 added 0.87 percent to 3,469.70 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 1.41 percent to 6,944.50.
The European single currency advanced to $1.3220 from $1.3141 in New York late on Friday, gaining ground as investors became more willing to take risks. US markets were shut for a public holiday on Monday.
"The key event today remains the meeting of EU finance ministers which reports have suggested could well see the ratification of the latest Greek bailout," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
"The markets certainly think that the odds are good ... as the euro and (stocks) have continued to rise."
Eurozone finance ministers meet yet again on Monday on Greek debt and this time seem to have tightened the corset of conditions tightly enough to approve a massive rescue and avert an imminent default.
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos flew into Brussels to join the talks among eurozone finance ministers and secure a 130-billion-euro ($171 billion) bailout and a writedown on privately-held debt worth 100 billion euros.
"We have all the elements for an accord," French Finance Minister Francois Baroin told Europe 1 radio ahead of the 3:30 pm (1430 GMT) talks. "That is what I will argue as finance minister this evening."
The negotiations have lasted for six months and have been on a knife edge in the last few weeks, with Greece appearing to totter between a rescue and eviction from the eurozone.
Most analysts consider that if Greece were to default, the consequences for the Greek people would be catastrophic, but possibly not now so dangerous for the rest of the eurozone as would have been the case last year.
The bond swap with private investors could be launched on Wednesday, on time for Athens as it faces debt repayments of about 14.5 billion euros on March 20.
"Progress out of Greece over the weekend has been the primary driver of the latest round of risk-on trade," said analyst Joel Kruger at trading website DailyFX.
"Today's Eurogroup meeting should therefore be an important moment for the process and help to at least get this saga somewhat out of the way," he said.
"Overall, Monday's session .. should be taken with a grain of salt as more time is needed to see how things play out with Greece.
"The US markets are also closed for the long holiday weekend which makes the price action even less reliable. We would therefore recommend proceeding with caution."
Asian shares mostly rose earlier on Monday, also driven by a Chinese move at the weekend to loosen monetary policy.
China's central bank said on Saturday it would cut commercial banks' reserve requirement ratio by 0.50 percentage points from February 24 to ease restrictions on lending and boost slowing economic growth.
The move, the second since November, comes as Beijing looks to ease restrictions put in place to curb surging inflation and property prices amid fears that the Asian powerhouse economy was slowing too quickly.
"China continues to be a big driver behind sentiment and appetite towards risk as the world's second-biggest economy remains critical to the future of global growth and expectations," said Capital Spreads analyst Simon Denham.
"The authorities there are as desperate as everyone else to try and avoid a major meltdown or 'hard landing' of their economy, so actions like this will help in avoiding a crash."
Shanghai ended up 0.27 percent while Hong Kong slipped back to close down 0.31 percent on profit-taking.
Tokyo shrugged off a record monthly trade deficit of 1.475 trillion yen to close up 1.08 percent and Sydney added 1.4 percent.
yahoo.com
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