The European markets rebounded from last week's rout and opened sharply higher after the European government leaders agreed Sunday to underwrite inter-bank lending and help struggling finance companies avoid collapse.
Following the announcement, oil prices also recovered. In European trading, crude futures for November delivery are gaining $3.48 to $81.18.
In early deals on Monday, the euro showed strength against its U.S., British and Japanese counterparts. The euro-dollar pair is currently worth 1.3628 and the euro-pound pair is trading at 0.7958. Similarly, against the yen, the euro is currently trading at 136.94.
U.S. stocks closed Friday's volatile session mixed, as traders continued to express concerns about the outlook for the global economy as a result of the current credit crisis. The Nasdaq closed up 4.4 points or 0.3% at 1,649, while the Dow closed down 128.0 points or 1.5% at 8,451.2 and the S&P 500 shed 10.7 points or 1.2% to finish at 899.2.
In the Asia-Pacific region Monday, the Japanese market was closed for a public holiday. Meanwhile, China's Shanghai Composite index closed up 3.65%, South Korea's KOSPI advanced 3.79%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 9.69% and Australia's All Ordinaries index closed up 5.14%.
Among the European indices, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips is advancing 4.88% to 892.81 and the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index is up 3.98% at 2,518.36.
Across Europe, U.K's FTSE 100 index is up 4.85% at 4,122.92, France's CAC 40 index is climbing 5.73% to 3,358.36 and Germany's DAX 30 index is up 5.72% at 4,804.08.
Banking stocks are the top gainers, with Barclays surging 11.08% after the bank said it would boost its capital by more than 6.5 billion pounds. Meanwhile, Commerzbank is soaring 19.42% and Dexia is advancing 14.32%.
Standard Chartered is adding 8.55% after it said its UK authorised entity, Standard Chartered Bank, met the capital requirements under the UK Government's banking sector scheme announced last week.
Lloyds TSB is gaining after it revised its terms for the acquisition of HBOS plc and said it plans to raise 5.5 billion pounds in new capital.
On the economic front, traders in the U.K. look forward to the release of the producer prices index, the RICS house price balance report and, BRC retail sales data. The investors in U.S. have little economic reports to digest on Monday.
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.