Most European stocks rallied on Wednesday as China came out and declared it would help resolve the regions debt crisis. News was not entirely positive around the continent, however.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6%, the French CAC climbed 0.4%, as did the German DAX. Not all were on the plus side, however, as the FTSE closed down 0.1%, and the IBEX fell 0.35%.
The Chinese government announced that it will maintain its presence in the Eurozone crisis by helping fund the International Monetary Fund (IMB) and European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF). The status of the pending Greek bailout is still unknown, however, and there is word that some Euro members want to kick Greece out of the single currency.
Banks were a big beneficiary, but good earnings were reported by BNP Paribas (BNP). The French bank rose over 4% during Wednesday trading. In further earnings news, Heineken’s (HEIA) were also better than expected as the Dutch brewer picked up three and two-thirds percent.
GDP news was particularly negative. The Euro-area economy shrunk over the fourth quarter of 2011; however, on the bright side, the decrease was much less than forecast by economists. The total drop in GDP was 0.3%, but economists had predicted a 0.4% drop.
For several individual nations, Wednesday’s GDP reports were worse news. Italy and the Netherlands both saw their economies shrink by about 0.7% in last year’s final quarter, putting both officially into recession. Further, Germany’s GDP diminished by 0.2%, but France had a good report, seeing an increase of 0.2%.
Unemployment in the United Kingdom rose to 8.4% for January; its highest rate since 1996; in particular, youth unemployment also hit all-time highs.
In commodities, Brent crude gained 0.96% to a new level of 118.48. Crude oil made another upward move, now at above 101.50 USD/bbl. Gas oil also increased, by 0.73%, to 995.00. Natural gas slipped significantly, falling 4.62% to trade at 2.415MMBtu.
Copper dropped 0.16% to trade around 380.85, while gold prices gained ground on Wednesday to 1,729.50 USD/t Oz.
In currencies, the US Dollar gained against the Euro and British Pound Sterling; the currency pairs sit at 1.3058 USD and 1.5689 USD, respectively. The Dollar also increased versus the Swiss Franc, rising to 0.9236 CHF.
