Investing.com – European stock markets were up on Monday, amid speculation that euro zone countries may provide Greece with a bailout package and as miners gained after a huge earthquake in Chile pushed copper prices higher.
During European morning trade, France’s CAC 40 was up 1.38%; Germany's DAX rose 1.51%; Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.74%; and the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.37%.
Anglo-Swiss coal and copper miner Xstrata rose 2.5% as copper climbed the most in 11 months; the Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. also advanced.
Also Monday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Greek officials and other sources as saying that a plan led by Germany and France to bail out debt-laden Greece with aid of as much as EUR 30 billion has begun taking shape, but the timing and terms of any rescue remain unclear.
The outlook for U.S. markets, meanwhile, was rosy as Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a rise of 0.59%, S&P 500 futures pointed to an increase of 0.62% and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a rise of 0.69%.
Later Monday, industry groups were set to release key data on the manufacturing sector in the euro zone, Britain and the United States. The European Union was also due to publish data on the euro zone's unemployment rate, which economists forecast to rise from 10% to 10.1%.