The Asian stock markets are expected to open higher on Monday in a relief rally after the conservative pro-bailout New Democracy party pulled out a victory in Sunday's crucial elections in Greece.
New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras declared victory in the election and called parties to join a national salvation government, "as soon as possible." Delivering a victory speech on Sunday night, he said Greeks had voted to stay in the euro - which for at least the short term ought to make investors happy.
Adding to the optimism, the U.K. government and the Bank of England announced additional measures to boost the credit and financial markets. The measures will offer banks billions of pounds in cheap credit in an effort to stimulate lending while also providing access to short-term money to deal with "exceptional market stresses."
A disappointing batch of U.S. economic data also seemed to provide further evidence that the economy needs additional stimulus to avoid a double-dip recession.
The major U.S. averages finished firmly in the green on Friday as the Dow climbed 115.26 points or 0.9 percent to finish at 12,767.17, while the NASDAQ jumped 36.47 points or 1.3 percent to end at 2,872.80 and the S&P 500 surged up 13.74 points or 1 percent to 1,342.84.
The major European bourses also moved higher on Friday as the DAX of Germany climbed by 1.48 percent and the CAC 40 of France gained 1.82 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. rose by 0.47 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.06 percent.
The Asian markets were mostly higher on Friday as Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 2.26 percent, while India climbed 1.63 percent, Singapore's Straits Times spiked 1.34 percent, Taiwan added 1.14 percent, Thailand collected 1.10 percent, New Zealand jumped 0.93 percent, Indonesia rose 0.70 percent, Malaysia gathered 0.53 percent, China's Shanghai Composite collected 0.47 percent, Australia added 0.42 percent and Japan's Nikkei was up 0.01 percent. South Korea's KOSPI eased 0.71 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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