The European markets are mostly higher in afternoon trading Friday, after a report said Spain is discussing measures that may be tied to a bailout. The Asian markets rose and the U.S. index futures are higher.
The Spanish government and the European Commission are in talks over measures that would be demanded by creditors if the country places an official bailout request, Financial Times reported, citing unnamed officials involved in discussions.
According to the newspaper, the plan will be unveiled next Thursday and will focus on structural reforms rather than new taxes and spending cuts.
The government led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is hesitating to place a bailout request to the EU, apparently worried over the tough austerity conditions such a rescue would entail.
Meanwhile, discussions between the Greece government and international creditors to fix a deal on 11.5 billion euros spending reduction reached no clear conclusion late Thursday. But some progress has been made on lifting the retirement age and pension cuts, which would together contribute a saving of 9.5 billion euros. A final deal is crucial for Greece to receive a 31.5 billion euros in aid.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.27 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is gaining 0.09 percent.
The German DAX is adding 0.72 percent, France's CAC 40 is advancing 0.09 percent and Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.26 percent. However, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 is falling 0.07 percent.
In Frankfurt, MAN is gaining 1.5 percent. JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock. Volkswagen is up 1.1 percent and Daimler is moderately higher. BMW is losing 0.5 percent.
Deutsche Bank is gaining 1.3 percent. Commerzbank is modestly higher.
Adidas is falling 1.5 percent after the firm slashed its 2015 sales target for the Reebok brand.
Duerr is declining 3.7 percent. Berenberg cut the stock to "Hold" from "Buy."
In Paris, Technip is gaining 1.7 percent. The company was awarded by Statoil a contract for the fabrication, installation and tie-ins of flowlines for the Gullfaks South field development.
Renault is gaining 1.6 percent. Peugeot is rising moderately.
BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are advancing moderately. Societe Generale is up 0.2 percent.
In London, Reckitt Benckiser is declining 1.6 percent. Imperial Tobacco is falling 1.3 percent.
Among miners, Rio Tinto is dropping 1.4 percent. BHP is modestly lower. Bucking the trend, Vedanta is climbing 2.2 percent.
BP is falling 0.5 percent. Ireland-headquartered DCC has signed a conditional agreement with BP to buy its liquefied petroleum gas distribution business in the Netherlands and Belgium. DCC is up around 2 percent.
Hansard Global is plunging over 11 percent after the specialist long-term savings provider reported a decline in fiscal 2012 profit.
Retailer Sainsbury and publishing firm Pearson are gaining 1.5 percent each.
Essenden is surging 52 percent as the firm posted a significantly higher pre-tax profit for its first half, helped by lower costs.
Kuoni is advancing 2.5 percent in Zurich. The leisure travel company plans to explore exit options for its small loss-making tour operating businesses that are not of strategic relevance to the company.
Swiss agribusiness company Syngenta intends to launch a public voluntary offer of 16 euros per share in cash for Belgian agro-biotechnology company Devgen NV. Syngenta is up 0.2 percent while Devgen shares are surging 66 percent in Brussels.
Across Asia/Pacific, Australia's All Ordinaries and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.25 percent each, while China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.70 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, eventually ending the session mixed. The Dow crept up 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq fell 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 edged down 0.1 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for November delivery is adding $0.84 to $93.26 per barrel and December gold is climbing $6.1 to $1776.3 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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