Reply #4: World markets gain after recovery hopes lift US

[ozymandius]

HONG KONG – Asian stock markets jumped Tuesday as investors welcomed better-than-expected news about U.S. housing and banks as another sign the world economy was headed for recovery. European shares also opened higher.

Tokyo and Hong Hong indexes added about 3 percent in one of Asia's strongest performances in days. Financials helped lead the way after American banks lifted Wall Street overnight, while oil companies were higher as crude prices touched $60 a barrel.

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In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 added 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX gained 1.8 percent and France's CAC-40 rose 0.9 percent. U.S. futures pointed to more gains on Wall Street Tuesday. Dow futures were up 31 points, or 0.4 percent, at 8,501 and S&P futures were up 4.2, or 0.5 percent, at 911.90.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 251.60 points, or 2.8 percent, to 9,290.29, with some investors cautious ahead of the release of gross domestic product data on Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 521.12, or 3.1 percent, to 17,544.03. South Korea's Kospi closed up 3 percent at 1,428.21.

In India, where stocks surged 17 percent the day before after the results of national elections, the Sensex added another 2.7 percent. The Shanghai index gained 0.9 percent, Australia's stock measure was 2.2 percent higher and Taiwan's market rose 1.2 percent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090519/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets