Asian stocks, euro rise on European rescue plan
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Asian stock markets and the euro currency rallied on Thursday on word of Europe’s new plan to contain its two-year-old government debt crisis.
Share prices were up across the Asia-Pacific region at midday, with Japan’s Nikkei-225 index up 1.4%, the South Korean market up 1.2% and Australian shares up 2.3%.
The euro currency rose 0.5% to $1.398 from $1.391 on Wednesday. The euro has rebounded from its recent low of $1.318 on Oct. 3.
Yields rose on U.S. Treasury bonds trading in Asia, a sign that some investors were moving out of the classic haven of American government debt. The 10-year T-note yield edged up to 2.23% from 2.21% on Wednesday.
The plan to boost the firepower of Europe’s rescue fund for struggling member states to an estimated $1.4 trillion ‘might just finally convince the skeptical markets that this time the backstop against contagion is for real,’ said Christopher Rupkey, economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
European authorities will be bracing to see how the continent’s bond and stock markets react when trading opens at midnight PDT.
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-- Tom Petruno