The European DJ Stoxx 50 this morning is up +1.72% at a 3-3/4 month high and June S&Ps are up +4.40 points (+0.48%) at a 4-month high. The Asia-Pacific stock markets today all closed higher with Japan (+4.55%), Hong Kong (+2.28%), China (+0.08%), Taiwan (+0.09%), Australia (+1.85%), Singapore (+2.87%), South Korea (+0.51%), India (+1.37%). Global stocks are receiving a boost today after US Treasury Secretary Geithner said late yesterday in an interview on a PBS program that the results of the government's stress tests on the nation's 19 biggest banks will be "reassuring" and that "none of those 19 banks are at risk for insolvency." March German factory orders unexpectedly rose +3.3% m/m, the first gain in the last seven months, and a sign that the worst of the global recession may be over. Swiss Re. the world's second-largest reinsurer, surged 19% after reporting Q1 net income of 150 million francs ($132 million), beating the 44 million-franc estimate by analysts, while AB InBev gained 7% after the world's biggest brewer posted a Q1 profit of $716 million as sales increased and costs declined, easily beating analysts' estimates of $484 million. Lloyds Banking Group Plc sank over 8% after the UK's biggest mortgage provider said corporate bad loans are rising "significantly" and forecast a 50% increase in bad loans this year as the economy deteriorates. The Bank of England kept its main benchmark rate at 0.50% as expected but said it will boost the size of its asset purchase program by an additional 50 billion pounds, raising the total assets purchased to 125 billion pounds as part of its quantitative easing. The ECB as expected lowered its 2-week refinancing rate -25 bp to an all-time low of 1.00%.
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