The European markets are in positive territory on Tuesday, as investor sentiment shifted to hope from despair on optimism about action from policy makers to contain the debt crisis. Sentiment was also helped by a successful debt auction by Spain, amid a report that China plans new economic stimulus for the second half of the year.
Spain sold 4.51 billion euros in 12 and 18-month bills compared to its 3.5 billion to 4.5 billion euro-target. Borrowing costs eased from a previous auction on July 17.
The People's Bank of China injected 220 billion yuan into the money market through reverse repurchase operations on Tuesday, dimming hopes of another reserve requirement reduction from the central bank, reports said.
Meanwhile, the U.K. public sector net borrowing, excluding the temporary effects of financial interventions, increased in July, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Net borrowing was 0.6 billion pounds in July, which was 3.4 billion pounds higher than in July last year.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.61 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is rising 0.13 percent.
The German DAX is gaining 0.48 percent and the French CAC 40 is advancing 0.64 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 is rising 0.30 percent and Switzerland's SMI is climbing 0.10 percent.
In Frankfurt, Lufthansa is advancing 2 percent and Infineon Technologies and ThyssenKrupp are rising 1.6 percent each.
Deutsche Bank is gaining 1.5 percent while Commerzbank is adding around 1 percent.
Automakers Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW are moderately higher.
DZ Bank cut Merck to "Hold" from "Buy." The stock is down 0.3 percent.
Singulus Technologies is losing around 2 percent after DZ Bank reduced its rating on the stock.
In Paris, insurer Axa is rising 2.8 percent. Building materials maker Saint-Gobain and cement giant Lafarge are advancing 2.1 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
Societe Generale and BNP Paribas are advancing around 1.9 percent while Credit Agricole is rising 1.4 percent.
Renault is gaining 1.4 percent and Peugeot is advancing 0.50 percent.
In London, Miners are on the rise on hopes of stimulus measures in China. Anglo American is adding 2.3 percent and Antofagasta is rising 1.8 percent.
Glencore International reported a decline in its first-half profit, reflecting a fall in commodity prices. The stock is modestly down.
Insurer Aviva is rising 1.7 percent and Resolution is climbing 1.8 percent.
Barclays is advancing 1.8 percent. The lender is in talks with its subsidiary Absa Group Ltd., to combine majority of their African operations.
Homebuilder Persimmon is losing around 2 percent after reporting a higher profit for the first half, as revenues benefited from increase in legal completions and higher selling prices.
Deutsche Bank cut ABB to "Sell"om "Hold." The stock is losing 1.2 percent in Stockholm.
Repsol was cut to "Neutral" from "Buy" at UBS. The shares are falling 2.4 percent in Madrid.
Julius Baer is gaining 2 percent in Zurich. The lender said Monday that it would limit its proposed rights offering to 500 million Swiss francs, from the previous plan of 750 million francs, as part of its capital raise to fund its acquisition of Bank of America Corp.'s (BAC) non-US wealth management unit.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets had a mixed outing. Australia's All Ordinaries rose 0.43 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.54 percent. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.02 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.12 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks closed nearly flat after a relatively light day on the corporate and economic news fronts. The Dow dipped 0.03 percent, the Nasdaq edged down 0.01 percent and the S&P 500 was unchanged.
In the commodity space, crude for September delivery is rising $0.62 to $96.59 per barrel and December gold is gaining $2.9 to $1625.9 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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