Cyprus bailout spurs European equity rally
European shares rallied at the open on Monday, with a key regional index recouping most of last week’s losses, after Cyprus secured a bailout deal designed to save its euro zone membership.
Cyprus agreed with international lenders on a rescue that averted a collapse of its banking system, which could have
resulted in a sovereign default and the Mediterrannean island leaving the currency bloc.
Euro zone banks, which own a large part of the region’s sovereign debt and depend on the wholesale funding
market, rallied 2 percent.
The euro zone Euro STOXX 50 index was up 1.3 percent at 2,718.36 points by 0805 GMT, recouping most of its 1.6 percent drop last week.
“We’ll probably see 2,750 by the end of the week easily,» Justin Haque, a pan-European broker at Hobart Capital Markets
said.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.8 percent to 1,199.14 points.
[Reuters]
