Global shares rise on ECB assurances, U.S. jobs hope

 

1 of 2. Brokers talk on the phone at a brokers' office in Madrid December 1, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Andrea Comas

LONDON (Reuters) - Shares rose and the euro steadied near a two-week high against the dollar on Friday as investors awaited U.S. jobs data and took heart from ECB assurances that it is ready to buy the bonds of troubled euro zone members.
The main market mover of the day is likely to be a monthly U.S. payrolls report due at 01:30 p.m british time. Recent indicators have suggested the world's largest economy is picking up, but investors are looking for firm evidence.

Markets were also reassured by ECB President Mario Draghi's statement on Thursday that it has a "fully effective backstop mechanism in place" to buy the bonds of euro zone states, and by industrial production data from Spain that was not as bad as some analysts had feared.

London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX opened 0.3 to 0.5 percent higher leaving the FTSEurofirst 300 index up 0.4 percent and global shares up 0.2 percent.

U.S. stock futures were up just under 0.1 percent, suggesting a modest uptick when Wall Street opens later.
"Should today's report come in line with expectations and the same pattern be confirmed in the coming months, we see increasing chances that the Fed will act again to stimulate activity," said Newedge Strategy analyst Annalisa Piazza.

The euro, closely linked to the bloc's debt crisis, dipped back under $1.30, as European trading gathered pace, but remained close to the two-week high of $1.3032 hit on Thursday.

Shares in Asia rose before Europe opened. The Bank of Japan took no new monetary easing measures as expected at its latest meeting, helping keep the yen firm, having hit an intraday high of 78.27.
German government bonds were little changed following the ECB meeting, while Italian and Spanish 10-year bond yields edged lower. [ID:nL6E8L50RI] Spain remains a risk factor for markets as it puts off requesting a formal bailout.

"We think they will request assistance before the EU summit on October 18-19 and, hence, believe investors will have no reason to avoid buying risky assets then. But the risks of delays are not small, despite Draghi's latest statements," Barclays Capital said in research note.
(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Will Waterman)