Europe's government-debt crisis helped send global financial markets plummeting in May. Now, the surprise of the summer is that the continent's economy hasn't fallen off a cliff. In fact, it's showing unexpected strength, New data to that effect on Thursday helped send major European stock markets sharply higher, which set the stage for the U.S. market's big rally. The German stock market jumped 2.5%, its biggest one-day gain since May 27. The French market surged 3.1% and Spanish stocks gained 2.6%.On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 201.77 points, or 2%, to 10,322.30, bolstered by some strong quarterly earnings reports. Eiffel In Europe, Markit.com said its business-activity index that tracks both the manufacturing and services sectors in the euro-zone countries rose unexpectedly this month to its highest level since April -- just before the debt crisis mushroomed.
The credit goes to Germany and France, which have "continued to provide the main stimulus to euro-area growth," Williamson said. For the moment, that's more than compensating for weakness in Greece, Spain and other economies suffering the biggest fallout from debt woes. It also has helped that Greece, Spain and other countries at the center of the debt crisis have been able to sell new bonds in recent weeks to refinance themselves, taking some pressure off the financial system as a whole.
For more: Europe's summer surprise: A stronger economy - Los Angeles Times
No comments:
Post a Comment