21 Jul 2009, 2137 hrs IST, AGENCIES
LONDON: European stocks
closed higher on Tuesday after more strong US corporate earnings and indications from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that borrowing costs will remain at record lows for some time to come. But ongoing unease about whether U.S. markets could break through recent highs capped gains on Wall Street. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 37.55 points, or 0.9 percent, at 4,481.17 while Germany's DAX rose 63.82 points, or 1.3 percent, to 5,093.97. The CAC-40 in France was 31.95 points, or 1 percent, higher at 3,302.89. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 36.36 points, or 0.4 percent, at 8,884.41 around midday New York time, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was rose a minuscule 0.12 point to 951.25. More upbeat earnings reports from a number of big-name companies on Tuesday added to investors' recent optimism, which has helped stocks around the world rally for the last seven sessions. Analysts noted markets around the world are approaching levels that could trigger a bout of profit-taking. Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest beverage maker, said its earnings jumped by 43 percent in the second quarter even though sales fell, while chemical maker DuPont Co. and drug company Merck & Co. reported better than expected results despite drops in their quarterly profit. Since last Monday, most of the world's major indexes have jumped around 8 percent amid hopes that the negative impact on earnings from the recession and the financial crisis has diminished.
closed higher on Tuesday after more strong US corporate earnings and indications from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that borrowing costs will remain at record lows for some time to come. But ongoing unease about whether U.S. markets could break through recent highs capped gains on Wall Street. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 37.55 points, or 0.9 percent, at 4,481.17 while Germany's DAX rose 63.82 points, or 1.3 percent, to 5,093.97. The CAC-40 in France was 31.95 points, or 1 percent, higher at 3,302.89. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 36.36 points, or 0.4 percent, at 8,884.41 around midday New York time, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was rose a minuscule 0.12 point to 951.25. More upbeat earnings reports from a number of big-name companies on Tuesday added to investors' recent optimism, which has helped stocks around the world rally for the last seven sessions. Analysts noted markets around the world are approaching levels that could trigger a bout of profit-taking. Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest beverage maker, said its earnings jumped by 43 percent in the second quarter even though sales fell, while chemical maker DuPont Co. and drug company Merck & Co. reported better than expected results despite drops in their quarterly profit. Since last Monday, most of the world's major indexes have jumped around 8 percent amid hopes that the negative impact on earnings from the recession and the financial crisis has diminished.