Month: October 2011

Stock markets in Europe bounced higher early on Wednesday as traders decided to pick up stocks trading down at discount levels following three days of losses and Italy’s credit downgrade late on Tuesday.

Moody’s cut Italy’s credit rating from Aa2 to A2 with a negative outlook, blaming “material increase in long-term funding risks for the euro area,” the ratings agency said in a statement.

The FTSE 100 index was up 2.2 percent to 5,053.38, Germany’s DAX 30 added 2.1 percent to 5,324.60, and France’s CAC40 rose 2.5 percent to 2,921.

Lenders also gained with Deutsche Bank up 5.5 percent and BNP Paribas in Paris rising 6.99 percent to €29.08.

Shares in Europe slumped on Monday after the Greek governments’ Finance Ministry announced its draft budget figures showing the country’s deficit is likely to reach 8.5 percent of GDP for 2011.

Greece will miss the terms of the bailout, originally agreed with Troika, which obliged it to meet a 7.6 percent target for 2011. The country is also unlikely to meet the 6.5 percent objective set for 2012, the ministry said late on Sunday.

The Frankfurt DAX dropped 3.2 percent, Stoxx Europe 600 and the FTSE 100 both decreased by two percent to 221.76 and 5024.43 respectively.

Banks slumped on the news, with BNP Paribas down almost seven percent, Commerzbank down 5.9 percent, and Societe Generale decreasing by six percent.