LONDON - Britain's leading shares gained 0.9 percent, boosted by strength in miners and oils, banks and life insurers, as upbeat US data lifted Wall Street. The FTSE 100 closed at 5,533.21 points, up 49.15 or 0.9 percent.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROFIRST
EUROPE - European shares rose for the fourth straight day, boosted by upbeat US economic data, optimism on Greece's deficit, and with Standard Chartered rising after results.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 0.8 percent to 1,035.56 points, its highest close since January 21.
The benchmark index is up more than 60 percent from a record low it hit on March 9, 2009.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:EUROmarkets
FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 5,817.88 points, up 41.32 or 0.72 percent.
PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 3,842.52 points, up 30.6 or 0.80 percent.
ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 6,813.16 points, down 6.88 or 0.1 percent.
MILAN - The FT IT All Share index closed at 22,268.38 points, up 302.56 or 1.38 percent.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:nikkei
TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.3 percent, supported by hopes for a bailout package for debt-ridden Greece, but the yen's advance to a more than two-month high against the dollar weighed on some exporters. In thin trade, the Nikkei rose 31.3 points to 10,253.14.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:hang seng
HONG KONG - Hong Kong stocks slipped 0.14 percent lower led by China Mobile, despite a recovery in index heavyweight HSBC. China stocks rose on hopes for measures to support the renewable energy sector. The Hang Seng Index ended down 29.32 points at 20,876.79.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:asx
SYDNEY - Australian stocks climbed 0.7 percent rising for the fourth straight session as strong commodity prices overnight lifted miners and economic growth data boosted sentiment. The S&P/ASX 200 index ended up 33.74points at 4,735.66.
@MARKET ROUNDUP:south africa
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's rand strengthened more than 1.3 percent against the dollar, touching a month high on a wave of renewed global risk appetite. The All-share index closed at 27,683.65 points, up 311.73 or 1.14 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2,247.79 points, up 33.04 or 1.49 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 21,868.18 points, up 13.36 or 0.06 percent.
