Asian markets shrugged off the late-day rally in US stocks, once again closing lower. The Nikkei fell .9% to 8383, and the Kospi sank 2.3%, as construction firms dropped sharply. Australia’s ASX 200 bucked the trend, closing up 1.4% as resource stocks rallied. Markets in greater China were closed for a holiday.
In Europe, the major indexes posted impressive gains, snapping a 3-day losing streak. The DAX soared 4.9%, the CAC40 advanced 4.3%, and the FTSE climbed 3.2%. The Euro Stoxx banks index jumped 5.7% after policymakers committed to take greater efforts to recapitalize the region’s struggling banks.
US markets overcame initial weakness, closing with significant gains. The Nasdaq posted the largest gain, climbing 2.3%, while the Dow rose 131 points to 10940. The S&P 500 gained 1.8% to 1144.
Two exciting tech takeover possibilities boosted tech shares. Research in Motion jumped 12.4% on rumors that Vodafone may look to buy the Blackberry maker. Yahoo soared 10.1% on news that Microsoft is considering a takeover offer.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar staged an impressive comeback after Tuesday’s drop, surging 2.6% to .9654, signaling a return to “risk on” mode. Its peer, the Canadian Dollar rallied 1.1% to 1.0406. The Euro, Pound, and Yen all settled within .1% of their previous close, while the Swiss Franc slipped .6% to 1.0829 against the Dollar.
Economic Outlook
The ADP payroll report showed the economy gained 91K jobs last month, better than the 76K forecast. The official government non-farm payroll report is due on Friday, and the ADP report is seen as an indicator for that key report, although they are not always consistent.
ISM non-manufacturing PMI was in-line with estimates at 53, slightly lower than last month.