STOCKS: Wednesday's review

Majors' close
Nikkei 225 +2.12 +0.02% 10,512.80
FTSE 100 +36.69 +0.61%     6,050.72
CAC 40     +83.15     +2.15%     3,945.07
DAX +127.21 +1.83% 7,068.78
Dow +83.48 +0.72% 11,755.36
Nasdaq +20.50 +0.75% 2,737.33
S&P 500 +11.45 +0.90% 1,285.93
Treasuries +0.0110-year yield 3.35%
Oil +0.59 $91.70

Japan’s Topix index rose, led by banks, on speculation Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa’s appointment as vice chairman of the Bank for International Settlements will benefit the nation’s lenders.


Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank by market value, jumped 3.6 percent. A gauge of bank shares was the biggest support for the Topix among the index’s 33 industry groups. Ube Industries Ltd., a chemical-products maker, leapt 6.2 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said profit will likely beat the company’s forecast. Fanuc Corp., an industrial-robot manufacturer that gets more than 75 percent of its sales overseas, fell 0.5 percent, reversing early gains as the yen strengthened in the afternoon.

European stocks advanced for a second day, extending a 28-month high, as investors speculated that the European Union will increase its efforts to contain the region’s debt crisis.


Intesa Sanpaolo SpA jumped 10 percent, leading banking shares higher across Europe as Portugal sold 10-year bonds. Sky Deutschland AG surged 31 percent after it won more funding from its parent company, News Corp. European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. rose 2.1 percent after its Airbus SAS unit won the biggest order in commercial aviation history.
Portugal sold 599 million euros ($783 million) of 10-year bonds at an average yield of 6.716 percent today, compared with a yield of 6.806 percent at the previous sale on Nov. 10. The auction was the first debt sale by any of the euro region’s most indebted countries this year.
EU officials are trying to forge a “comprehensive” plan to contain the currency area’s sovereign-debt crisis, Economic and Monetary Commissioner Olli Rehn said today.
Japan may extend its purchases of bonds sold by a European financial aid fund beyond January as it seeks to support the region’s recovery from the sovereign-debt crisis, two government officials familiar with the matter said.

U.S. stocks rose, sending benchmark indexes to the highest since August 2008, as Wells Fargo & Co. raised its rating for large banks on dividend prospects and amid speculation Europe will step up measures to control its crisis.
Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. gained at least 1.6 percent.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. added 2.5 percent after Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon told CNBC that he would like to boost the company’s dividend.
Canada’s Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd. soared 33 percent after Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. agreed to buy the company for about C$4.9 billion ($4.95 billion).
Nvidia Corp. jumped 11 percent after Oppenheimer & Co. predicted a “good year” for the industry’s earnings.
The S&P 500, which is up for a second day, has soared 90 percent from its March 2009 low amid government measures to stimulate the economy and as corporate profits exceeded forecasts. Companies in the benchmark gauge posted higher-than- estimated results in all three quarters reported so far for 2010, and analysts predict profit will increase 14 percent in 2011