$10 billion Italian bond sale boosts Europe (EWU, EWG)

December 29, 2011 at 8:10 am by

Markets across the world perked up as investors bought about 7 billion euros in Italian bonds on Thursday, leaving yields on 10-year Italian bonds down at 6.98%, from a record high of 7.56% in November.

Sentiment coming from Asia was mixed.

Australian stocks (EWA, quote) dove 0.45% as concerns that Europe’s economic woes may affect China sent mining stocks down. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto fell 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively.

In Tokyo (EWJ, quote) the market dipped 0.29%. Olympus stocks jumped 5.35% even though the camera and medical equipment manufacturer continues to face the fallout from a $1.7 billion bookkeeping scandal.

 
But in Seoul, the KOSPI (EWY, quote) rose 0.03% despite news that industrial output fell 0.4% in November, the fourth decline in five months. While the country’s industrial output had previously been projected to rise 6.2% from last November, actual growth stood at 5.6%.
 
In Shanghai, Chinese shares (YAO, quote) rose 0.16%. Singapore shares (EWS, quote) climbed 0.24%.

Italy’s bond auction largely boosted European markets, with London’s FTSE up 0.16% and the DAX up 0.38% by mid-morning. 

The Chinese yuan fell 0.04% against the dollar to 6.3185. The Japanese yen fell 0.14% to 77.82 to the greenback.

Similarly in Europe, the British pound depreciated 0.43% to $1.5385 and the euro dipped 0.39% to $1.2886.

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