By ANDREA TRYPHONIDES
LONDON—European stocks opened higher Tuesday following a triple-digit gain on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while the euro was firmer after French banks drafted an agreement to roll over some Greek debt for 30 years ahead of a crucial vote in the Greek parliament this week.
London's FTSE 100 added 0.2%, Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.4% and Paris's CAC-40 Index also rose 0.4%.
Greek lawmakers will be asked Wednesday to agree to new austerity measures which are critical for the debt-laden country to qualify for its next tranche of financial aid.
However, some trepidation remains. "Equity volatility remains at a relatively high level...Meanwhile, pressure on euro-zone peripheral bond spreads has not lessened suggesting that the market remains very cautious," Credit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank said.
The higher open follows the firmer close for U.S. stocks on Monday. Equity markets in the U.S. snapped a three-day losing streak, as the technology sector surged and financial stocks jumped on banking-capital requirements that were less onerous than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.9% at 12043.56, led by Microsoft and Bank of America. The Standard Poor's 500-stock index rose 0.9% to 1280.10, as technology, consumer discretionary and financial stocks registered strong gains. All 10 of its sectors traded in positive territory. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.3% to 2688.28. Microsoft, a Dow component, jumped 3.7% to $25.20. The software giant is expected to introduce a cloud version of its Office suite this week. Online speculation also swirled that Windows 8 could be released in April, months earlier than anticipated.
Monday's moves came after international regulators agreed to require the world's largest banks to hold an extra layer of financial padding. The agreement, hammered out over the weekend in the Swiss city of Basel, will force global banks that are considered "too-big-to-fail" to maintain capital cushions that are significantly thicker than other institutions.
Still, investors and analysts said the capital requirements don't appear to be as burdensome as originally feared.
Meanwhile, Asian equity markets were mixed Tuesday, as investors awaited fresh developments around the Greek debt crisis, while most regional oil stocks struggled despite a mild recovery in oil prices.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7%, Australia's SP/ASX 200 advanced 0.1%, South Korea's Kospi Composite was flat, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.3%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6% and India's Sensex was down 0.1%.
The euro was steady in Asian trade after rising Monday on growing hopes the Greek parliament will pass a package of austerity measures this week and on optimism about the prospect of a broad plan with European Union guarantees to roll over Greek debt.
The euro recently fetched $1.4296, from $1.4286 late in New York on Monday, and was unchanged against the Japanese currency at ¥115.53. The dollar was at ¥80.81, compared with ¥80.90.
Spot gold was at $1,496.90 a troy ounce, up $1.65 from its New York settlement on Monday. August Nymex crude-oil futures, which have been under selling pressure on global demand worries, and since last week's decision by the International Energy Agency release strategic crude-oil reserves, were down just 3 cents at $90.58 a barrel on Globex.
On the data calendar, U.S. SP/Case Shiller house prices are at 9 a.m. ET, followed by consumer confidence at 10 a.m.
Write to Andrea Tryphonides at andrea.tryphonides@dowjones.com
Article Source KBG Test Blog (http://rc.kbg.me)
