European markets climb, led by Lehman Brothers
European markets climb, led by Lehman Brothers European markets advanced after Lehman Brothers Holdings posted better earnings than market estimates, easing concerns that credit market problem will reduce profit growth. Further the speculation that the Federal reserve will reduce the interest rate by 0.25 bps gave confidence to the investors. Europe`s largest bank by market value, HSBC Holdings, and BNP Paribas led the advances. Northern Rock shares, which have seen a huge downfall in the last one week, jumped 7.4% after the U.K. government said it will guarantee all the bank`s customer deposits. Earlier today, Bank of England distributed emergency loans up to USD 8.8 billion to U.K banks. The move by the BOE was to stabilize the financial stocks, which was going through a rough phase in the past few days. UK`s FTSE 100 gained 10 82 points, or 1.33%, to trade at 6,265.10. French benchmark index, CAC 40, gained 112.9 5 points, or 2.08%, to trade at 5,552.32. Germany`s DAX gained 62.74 points, or 0.84%, to trade at 7,542.59. Italy`s MILAN MIB30 gained 13,986.10 points, or 2.11%, to trade at 289.20.
