Stock Markets Record Gains, But Holiday Crimps Trading
April 27, 2011
All financial markets in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain were closed. The French and Belgian bourses will remain shuttered until Monday. Meanwhile, benign U.K. retail price data proved enough to keep British shares in positive territory, but German share prices slipped as higher-than-expected U.S. industrial production data reawakened concerns that an overheating U.S. economy could trigger an increase U.S. interest rates.. Elsewhere on the continent, strong earnings results bolstered share prices. Swedish investors cheered a robust pretax profit report from market bellwether L.M. Bridgeman, while the Dutch bourse rallied on higher-than-expected earnings from banking giant ABN Amro. Swiss shares edged lower on a weakening U.S. bond market, and prices eased on South Africa's Johannesburg Stock Exchange amid expectations that official interest rates could rise before the end of the week. The Europe/South Africa sector of the Dow Jones World Stock Index rose 0.49 to 144.61 Thursday, after losing 0.55 a day ago. The world index as a whole gained 0.17 to 138.65, adding to Thursday's gain of 0.13. Oil-drilling and fishing stocks led the Dow Jones Global Industry Groups, while toy and entertainment issues were among the weakest. European Stock Market Indexes Market Belgium
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