European Union leaders will hold a special summit on the
economy on Thursday in Brussels amid the increasing worries
that Greece and other so-called peripheral euro zone economies,
including Spain and Portugal, cannot handle their debts and
deficits.
EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin
Almunia said the situation in Greece was difficult and a common
concern for the EU. [ID:nLDE6181VR]
In midday U.S. stock market trade, the Standard & Poor's
500 stock index <.SPX> was up 1.41 percent at 1,071.68 while
the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 1.71 percent at
10,078.21.
Brokerage comments also helped lift industrials such as
construction equipment maker Caterpillar. Caterpillar's stock
surged 5.51 percent to $53.58 <CAT.N>.
Stocks in Europe, however, missed out on much of the Greek
developments and closed flat after having gained early on
thinner speculation about a bailout for the fiscally strapped
euro zone member.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> rose 0.17 percent
to 979.33, although year-to-date losses are around 6 percent.
"This is a little bit overblown," said Robert Quinn,
European strategist at Standard & Poor's equity research, of
the worries about Greece. "You know it's going to be bailed out
eventually. Is it the EU? Is it the IMF? It doesn't matter.
They are not going to default."
Spreads between German 10-year bonds <DE10YT=RR> and Greek
and Portuguese equivalents <GR10YT=RR> <PT10YT=RR> narrowed,
although they remained wide at 317 and 142 basis points,
respectively.
The euro climbed 1.05 percent at $1.3793 <EUR=> and 1.20
percent at 123.35 yen <EURJPY=>.
The U.S. dollar was down 0.61 percent against a basket six
major currencies <.DXY>.
The euro is down 4.0 percent versus the dollar year-to-date
and over 7.5 percent against the yen, in part because of
concerns over debt.
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a session high of $1,083.05 an ounce
and was bid at $1,077.25, up 1.27 percent. Crude oil prices
rose 2.45 percent to $73.65 a barrel <CLc1>.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell 11/32 of a point in
price, pushing the yield up to 3.61 percent <US10YT=RR>.
STOCKS REBOUND
World stocks as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS> rose 1.1
percent, lifted mainly by gains of 1.96 percent in their
emerging market component. Chinese and Hong Kong shares were
generally higher, cheered by higher commodity prices.
Japan's Nikkei Nikkei <.N225> edged down 0.2 percent to a
two-month closing low.
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, whose shares have lost about a
fifth of their value since late January, rose on short-covering
with investors welcoming signs it was taking steps to deal with
its safety problems.
The automaker announced a recall of the Prius and other
hybrid cars for braking problems.
(Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Emily
Flitter in New York; Jeremy Gaunt, Atul Prakash and Neal
Armstrong in London; Marcin Grajewski in Strasbourg; Editing by
Leslie Adler)