European Stocks Rally as ECB Says Rates to Remain Low

By Tom Stoukas - Jul 4, 2013 6:30 PM GMT+0530

European stocks rose the most in more than two months as the European Central Bank said that interest rates will remain low for an extended period, and Portugal’s political leaders sought to hold their coalition government together. U.S. index futures and Asian shares climbed. 

Banco Espirito Santo SA rallied after sinking 11 percent yesterday. Taylor Wimpey Plc jumped 7 percent as the U.K. housebuilder said its operating-profit margin increased in the first half. OC Oerlikon Corp. added 2.7 percent after completing the sale of its natural-fibers business.

Traders pass electronic display boards at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Frankfurt. Photographer: Ralph Orlowski/Bloomberg

July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Jens Larsen, chief European economist at RBC Capital Markets, discusses the possibility that the Bank of England may introduce activist monetary policies such as forward guidance under new Governer Mark Carney. Larsen talks from London with Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move." (Source: Bloomberg)

 

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, speaks during a news conference at the bank's headquarters in Frankfurt, on Feb.7, 2013. 

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged 2.2 percent to 291.86 at 1:57 p.m. in London, paring the gauge’s retreat from its 2013 high on May 22 to 6 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.7 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.3 percent. U.S. equity markets are closed today for the Independence Day holiday. 

“We’ve seen slightly more positive tones out of Portugal in the last hours which gives markets some relief,” Witold Bahrke, who helps oversee $55 billion as a senior strategist at PFA Pension A/S in Copenhagen, wrote in an e-mail. “This supports markets for now, and probably some expectations about a dovish ECB are building ahead of today’s press conference. Volume is thin out there since the U.S. is closed.” 

The number of shares changing hands in companies listed on the Stoxx 600 was 10 percent greater than the 30-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.