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Europe soars on U.S. data
LONDON, England (CNN) -- European markets roared to a close on Wednesday, led by technology stocks, after strong U.S. economic data and a pre-Thanksgiving rally on Wall Street. London's FTSE 100 rose 1.8 percent to 4,144.2 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris gained 3.1 percent to 3,313.76, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was up 4 percent to 3,319.71 in late trading (the German market was set to close at 1900 GMT). The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up 2.4 percent. After a negative start on European markets on Wednesday -- hampered by a selloff on Wall Street in the previous session -- stocks rebounded after a string of positive economic numbers out of the United States. U.S. durable goods orders bounced back in October, boosted by strong demand for machinery and equipment for communications and transport, while weekly claims for unemployment insurance benefits fell and personal spending rose. The new numbers come just one day after disappointing consumer confidence data raised questions about a sustained U.S. recovery, even as growth figures showed the economy grew more briskly. "They [Wednesday data] are very good numbers. The U.S. recovery's heartbeat just picked up quite dramatically. They provide more evidence that the U.S. economy is coming out of casualty and into the recovery ward," David Brown, an economist at Bear Stearns, told Reuters. "They are great numbers for stocks and should provide a great boost ahead of Thanksgiving." France Telecom (PFTE) jumped 13.1 percent to 16.70 euros after a report that the government was ready to pump nine billion euros into the company to aid a rescue plan for the teetering phone giant, enabling it to shelve a risky capital increase until next year. (Full story) Orange (PORA), France Telecom's mobile phone unit, gained 5.6 percent to 7.26 euros, while Vodafone (VOD), Europe's biggest mobile phone operator, added 2.1 percent to 120.50 pence and UK rival mm02 (OOM) rose 8.3 percent to 52 pence. Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) was up 5.4 percent to 11.93 euros in late Frankfurt trading after the group said it expected T-Mobile unit to drive the group's growth this year, while performance at its cash-spinning fixed line unit would remain flat in the second half. (Full story) Abbey National (ABY), Britain's sixth-largest bank, reversed earlier losses, rising 4.5 percent to 619.57 pence. The bank said it would make a loss this year after a £1.9 billion ($3 billion) profit last year. New Chief Executive Luqman Arnold said the group would focus on its core retail banking unit and was likely to sell some parts of its troubled corporate banking division. (Full story) French bank Credit Lyonnais (PCL) rose 6.5 percent to 49.95 euros in Paris as investors bet a bidding war was on the cards after rival BNP Paribas (PBNP) snatched a 10.9 percent stake from under the noses of rivals in a surprise government auction over the weekend. The AEX index in Amsterdam was up 2.8 percent, Milan's MIB30 index rose 3.3 percent and the SMI in Zurich gained 1.8 percent. In the U.S. on Wednesday, a slew of positive economic updates fired up a market rally and brought the buyers back in for some pre-Thanksgiving holiday shopping in techs and blue chips. At 1540 GMT, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 182.58 points to 8859.00, while the Nasdaq composite rose 36.75 points to 1481.18 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 19.08 points to 932.39.
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