Friday, 10 July 2015 21:17
NEW YORK: Global stock markets jumped while the euro rose broadly on Friday on optimism that last-minute concessions by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would clinch a deal with the country’s international creditors and save it from financial meltdown.
US stocks were up about 1 percent in early trading, following gains in both European and Asian equities.
The euro jumped more than 2 percent against the yen, while gold prices edged higher. The gains follow a volatile week that saw Greece’s banks remain shut after the country voted in a referendum to reject previous bailout terms, raising chances of a “Grexit” from the euro.
The new Greek plan is by no means a done deal. Greece’s parliament still needs to throw its weight behind the proposals and trust with creditors needs to be rebuilt. But investors saw the latest news as reason to be upbeat.
“Should Greece find a momentary fit to its budgetary problems and stay in the euro zone, it would peel away a thick layer of uncertainty for the euro,” said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.
The euro climbed to a one-week high against the yen of 137.27 yen and was last at 136.99, up 2.4 percent. The euro zone common currency was on track for its largest one-day gain since April 2013. Against the dollar, the euro was up 1.2 percent at $ 1.1167.
MSCI’s all-country equities world index jumped 1.3 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 171 points, or 0.97 percent, to 17,719.62, the S&P 500 gained 20.37 points, or 0.99 percent, to 2,071.68 and the Nasdaq Composite added 58.10 points, or 1.18 percent, to 4,980.50.
European shares were up 1.8 percent.
Chinese stocks were also buoyed by a raft of support measures from Beijing that appeared to calm investors.
Panic selling had slashed a third of the value off mainland markets since its peak in June. China’s worries have spread to other markets, with iron ore the hardest-hit industrial commodity and oil prices also hit.
Copper was down on Friday and set for a weekly fall of about 3 percent as concerns over China persisted. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.9 percent at $ 5,581.50 a tonne.
Iron ore was headed for a steep weekly fall. Oil prices also were lower.
US crude was down 50 cents to $ 52.28 per barrel and Brent was down 39 cents at $ 58.22.
In the precious metals market, spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $ 1,161.11 an ounce.
Treasuries prices were lower, with the 10-year note down 21/32 and yielding 2.377 percent.
