By Avaneesh Pandey -
After shares in China rose Thursday for the first time in weeks, European markets opened stronger and are now trading up nearly 3 percent. Markets across Asia also closed the day higher.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 is currently up 2.7 percent at 359.35 points. Other European markets also bounced back after Wednesday’s sharp sell-off. London’s FTSE 100 was up 2.2 percent while Germany’s DAX index and France’s CAC 40 were 3 percent higher.
“Equity markets are positive this morning, as a perceived recovery continues following Monday’s flash crash. Encouraging news from the U.S. Fed is finally giving markets something other than ‘buy it ‘cos it’s cheap’ to bite on,” Augustin Eden at Accendo Markets told the Guardian.
American stock markets are also expected to continue the previous day’s record rally. U.S. stock index futures are up over 1 percent, with the Dow indicating gains of nearly 200 points at the open.
Earlier on Thursday, the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 5.3 percent at 3,083.59, after crashing 23 percent over the past five sessions. The smaller Shenzhen Composite index was up 0.6 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also gained 2.5 percent, with most of the region’s shares trading higher.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Australia’s S&P ASX 200 closed up 1 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi Composite index closed 0.7 percent higher. India’s benchmark Sensex ended the day up 2 percent, or 516 points.