European stocks rebound with Ukraine, Iraq in focus
In foreign exchange deals Monday, the euro fell to $1.3388 from $1.3397 late on Friday in New York.
LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets rebounded strongly Monday on international efforts to help dampen the tensions between Russia and Ukraine as well as in Iraq, traders said.
Frankfurt s DAX 30 index rallied 1.34 percent to stand at 9,214.19 points in midday deals.
In Paris, the CAC 40 jumped 1.06 percent to 4,218.77 points and London s benchmark FTSE 100 index won 0.61 percent to stand at 6,729.75 compared with Friday s close.
"Events in Ukraine had every chance of escalating over the weekend, however Ukrainian forces appear to have had the upper hand over the last 48 hours, giving the region a calmer look as the business week starts," said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG trading group.
"Proactive measures from the White House towards tackling the situation in Iraq continue to offer the markets support," he added.
Europe s stock markets mostly slid on Friday as news that Ukrainian artillery had destroyed part of a Russian military column spooked investors.
But Russia on Monday said that "certain progress" had been made at Ukraine crisis talks in Berlin between the two countries foreign ministers and their counterparts from Germany and France.
The foreign ministry said the participants discussed ways to quickly halt fighting and establish Ukraine s control over its border with Russia as well as deliver aid to civilians and begin peace talks.
In Iraq, Kurdish fighters backed by US warplanes pressed a counter-offensive against jihadists after retaking the country s largest dam, as the United States and Britain stepped up their military involvement.
The European single currency dropped to 80.01 pence from 80.25 pence on Friday, while the pound rose to $1.6733 from $1.6694.
The British pound won support from comments over the weekend from Bank of England governor Mark Carney that improving wage growth was not a prerequisite for increasing interest rates.
They stood in contrast to a report last week, which the market concluded meant the BoE would wait until at least the start of next year before rising its record-low interest rate of 0.50 percent.
Carney s remarks published on Sunday "have however thrown a lifeline to the pound, which has managed to reverse some of last week s losses against both the euro and the US dollar," said Moneycorp.
Russia s central bank meanwhile announced Monday that it would intervene less in the foreign exchange market to support the ruble as it works toward letting the currency float freely by the end of the year.
Despite considerable turbulence in the markets due to the crisis in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia, the central bank said it had widened the range in which the ruble trades freely and that it would no longer intervene to smooth volatility.
Elsewhere on Monday, the price of gold gained to $1,302.70 an ounce from $1,296 Friday on the London Bullion Market.
