Global stocks rise as investor worries about banking turmoil ease
By Michelle Toh and Anna Cooban, CNN
Stocks around the world rose Tuesday as concerns about the global banking sector eased in response to a whirlwind of intervention by policymakers and industry players.
The Dow Jones Industrial index was trading 0.5% higher in late morning trade, while the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite 0.7%.
Europe’s Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 1.3% in afternoon trade, while the region’s Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index, which tracks 42 big EU and UK banks, jumped 3.9%.
But the bank-specific benchmark is still down 12.6% from its high in late February. The index is heading for its biggest one-month fall since March 2020, when the start of the coronavirus pandemic hammered markets.
London’s bank-heavy FTSE 100 index rose 1.8% in afternoon trade, while France’s CAC 40 posted gains of 1.4% and Germany’s DAX 1.7%.
In Asia Pacific, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.3%, boosted by its AXFJ index, a measure of banking stocks, before closing the day 0.8% higher.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended 1.4% up, while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.6% higher.
South Korea’s Kospi ticked up 0.4%. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday. Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 1.2%.
That followed a sunnier day on Wall Street, as investors became more confident in the outlook for the banking sector.
On Monday, central banks across Asia Pacific moved to quell concerns about the financial industry, though that did little to stop stocks from slumping initially that day. Authorities in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines assured the public that their money was safe following the emergency bailout of Credit Suisse over the weekend.
The landmark rescue of Credit Suisse by bigger Swiss rival UBS on Sunday was followed by a coordinated action by major central banks to boost the flow of US dollars through financial markets.
Shares of UBS rose about 3.3% in an intraday reversal on Monday, following a drop of as much as 15% earlier in the session.
Still, recession fears continue to dog investors ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting, set to conclude Wednesday. Traders see about a 73% probability of the central bank raising interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point.
US regional banks also aren’t out of the woods yet. Shares of First Republic, the struggling Californian bank bailed out by a consortium of lenders last week, fell to an intraday record low Monday before ending the session down about 47% in another brutal day for the stock.
The Dow closed 1.2% higher Monday, while the S&P 500 gained about 0.9%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.4%.
— CNN’s Krystal Hur contributed to this report.
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