Japan market was shut for a holiday.
European
stocks rallied, sending the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index, Germany's DAX
and France's CAC 40 to their biggest gains on record, as governments in
Europe, the U.S. and Asia agreed to support banks.
Europe's
regional benchmark rebounded from its steepest weekly slump ever, with
UBS AG, Deutsche Bank AG and ING Groep NV jumping more than 12 percent
after European leaders said they would guarantee new bank debt. Total
SA increased 10 percent and BHP Billiton Ltd. rose 9.1 percent as oil
climbed from a 13- month low and copper advanced.
Stocks increased
after the U.S. Federal Reserve said central banks will offer financial
institutions unlimited dollar funds and Europe pledged to guarantee
bank debt issues and permit governments to buy stakes and recapitalize
some distressed financial companies.
National benchmark indexes
climbed more than 5 percent in 16 of the 17 western European markets
that were open. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 jumped 7.1 percent. Germany's DAX
advanced 11 percent. France's CAC 40 increased 11 percent as Total SA
gained.
UBS, the European bank hardest hit by subprime-related
losses, surged 12 percent to 19.1 Swiss francs. Deutsche Bank,
Germany's biggest, rallied 12 percent to 35 euros. ING, the largest
Dutch financial-services provider, gained 27 percent to 13.26 euros.
Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. raised its recommendation on European banks to
``neutral'' from ``underweight,'' citing the recent decline in
valuations and central bank action to reduce risks for the industry.
Barclays Dividend
Barclays
Plc added 3.7 percent to 215.25 pence. The U.K.'s second-biggest bank
plans to sell more than 6.5 billion pounds of shares to private
investors without turning to the government for help and said it won't
pay a final dividend for 2008.
Royal Bank of Scotland fell 8.4
percent to 65.7 pence, and HBOS dropped 28 percent to 90 pence. Lloyds
TSB lost 14 percent to 162 pence.
U.S. stocks rallied after
the market's worst week in 75 years, boosted by the government's plan
to buy stakes in banks and a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the
global financial system with dollars.
Morgan Stanley soared as
much as 66 percent after sealing a $9 billion investment from Japan's
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group In. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup
Inc. jumped more than 5 percent, while General Motors Corp. and Ford
Motor Co., the largest U.S. automakers, climbed more than 25 percent
each. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose the most since 1987 and
Europe's benchmark index posted its best gain ever, helping the MSCI
World Index rebound from its worst week on record.
The S&P 500
halted an eight-day losing streak, its longest since 1996. Last week's
18 percent declines pushed both the S&P 500 and Dow down more than
40 percent from their peaks last October. The S&P 500 ended last
week trading for 17 times reported earnings of its companies, the
cheapest valuation in more than a year.
Citigroup climbed 6.3
percent to $15, Bank of America added 5.6 percent to $22.21, Merrill
Lynch & Co. climbed 5 percent to $16.53 and Goldman Sachs Group
Inc. rallied 12 percent to $99.61.
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
rose $5.54 to $15.22 and gained as much as $6.42. Morgan Stanley agreed
to change the terms of its $9 billion investment from Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group Inc., providing the Japanese bank with preferred stock
that pays a 10 percent dividend instead of common stock.
Mitsubishi
UFJ, Japan's biggest lender, will get 21 percent of the New York-based
company as previously agreed, the two firms said today in a joint
statement. The terms were renegotiated after the tumble in Morgan
Stanley's shares last week.
Exxon Mobil Corp. climbed 5.6 percent
to $65.85 after a 20 percent tumble last week. Oil gained as much as
6.2 percent to $82.52 a barrel today, rebounding from a 13-month low.
General
Motors jumped 32 percent to $6.46, the biggest gain in the Dow average,
and Ford added 26 percent to $2.51. GM, the largest U.S. automaker, is
in talks with Cerberus Capital Management LP's Chrysler LLC about a
merger or partnership, five people with direct knowledge of the
discussions said. Ford, the second-largest, is considering selling its
controlling stake in Japan's Mazda Motor Corp., a person familiar with
the matter said.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. added 7.8
percent to $39.20 as copper on the London Metal Exchange rebounded from
a 33-month low.
Apple Inc. rose 7.7 percent to $104.22. Sanford C.
Bernstein & Co. analyst Toni Sacconaghi upgraded the maker of
Macintosh computers and the iPhone to ``outperform'' from ``market
perform,'' saying the shares are ``overly discounted'' after plunging
46 percent in two months.