Investing.com - European stock markets were higher on Thursday, as investors awaited the results of a highly anticipated Spanish government bond auction amid fears the country will be the next euro zone member to require a bailout.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.80%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.99%, while Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 0.71%.
Spain was due to auction up to EUR2.5 billion of government bonds later Thursday, after the yield on the country’s 10-year bonds rose above 6% earlier in the week, fuelling fears that the country may be the next in the euro zone to require a bailout.
On Tuesday, an auction of short-term Spanish government debt raised the full targeted amount of EUR3 billion, but the country’s borrowing costs almost doubled.
Meanwhile, worries over Spain’s troubled banking sector mounted on Wednesday, after the country’s central bank reported that the amount of bad loans at domestic banks rose to an 18-year high in February.
Financial stocks led gains as shares French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale jumped 1.37% and 1.28%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank added 1.04% and Dutch ING Group climbed 1.14%.
Peripheral lenders were also higher, beginning with Spanish lenders BBVA and Banco Santander, up 0.73% and 1.08%, while Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit also added 0.76% and 1.69% respectively.
Roche Holding saw shares rise 0.93% after the Swiss pharmaceuticals group said it was abandoning a USD6.7 billion bid for Illumina Inc. because investors are concerned over the viability of the company’s gene-mapping technology.
On the downside, French mass media company Vivendi lost 0.24% as Chief Executive Officer Jean-Bernard Levy was to address the annual shareholder meeting later in the day, facing calls to review assets and reconsider the company’s structure.
In London, FTSE 100 was up 0.41%, also boosted by gains in the financial sector.
Shares in Lloyds Banking jumped 1.30% and HSBC Holdings rose 0.66%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays advanced 0.65% and 0.54% respectively.
Mining stocks also contributed to gains. Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton saw shares add 0.67% and 1.21%, as did copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys, up 0.15% and 0.93%.
Elsewhere, Cable & Wireless Worldwide plummeted 20.36% as Vodafone Group became the only potential bidder for the company, after Tata Communications failed to agree on a price and chose not to make an offer for the U.K. network operator.
Shares in Vodafone rose 0.88% after the news.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.54%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.60% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.74% gain.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on unemployment claims, followed by industry data on existing home sales and a report on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.80%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.99%, while Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 0.71%.
Spain was due to auction up to EUR2.5 billion of government bonds later Thursday, after the yield on the country’s 10-year bonds rose above 6% earlier in the week, fuelling fears that the country may be the next in the euro zone to require a bailout.
On Tuesday, an auction of short-term Spanish government debt raised the full targeted amount of EUR3 billion, but the country’s borrowing costs almost doubled.
Meanwhile, worries over Spain’s troubled banking sector mounted on Wednesday, after the country’s central bank reported that the amount of bad loans at domestic banks rose to an 18-year high in February.
Financial stocks led gains as shares French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale jumped 1.37% and 1.28%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank added 1.04% and Dutch ING Group climbed 1.14%.
Peripheral lenders were also higher, beginning with Spanish lenders BBVA and Banco Santander, up 0.73% and 1.08%, while Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit also added 0.76% and 1.69% respectively.
Roche Holding saw shares rise 0.93% after the Swiss pharmaceuticals group said it was abandoning a USD6.7 billion bid for Illumina Inc. because investors are concerned over the viability of the company’s gene-mapping technology.
On the downside, French mass media company Vivendi lost 0.24% as Chief Executive Officer Jean-Bernard Levy was to address the annual shareholder meeting later in the day, facing calls to review assets and reconsider the company’s structure.
In London, FTSE 100 was up 0.41%, also boosted by gains in the financial sector.
Shares in Lloyds Banking jumped 1.30% and HSBC Holdings rose 0.66%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays advanced 0.65% and 0.54% respectively.
Mining stocks also contributed to gains. Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton saw shares add 0.67% and 1.21%, as did copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys, up 0.15% and 0.93%.
Elsewhere, Cable & Wireless Worldwide plummeted 20.36% as Vodafone Group became the only potential bidder for the company, after Tata Communications failed to agree on a price and chose not to make an offer for the U.K. network operator.
Shares in Vodafone rose 0.88% after the news.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.54%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.60% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.74% gain.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on unemployment claims, followed by industry data on existing home sales and a report on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area.