Monday November 10, 06:50 PM
Global stocks get boost from Chinese stimulus package
LONDON (AFP) - Global stocks got a boost Monday from a massive Chinese stimulus package as investors bet that governments were ready to make the hard choices to tame the financial crisis, but the gloss faded later.
Dealers said the advance was positive overall, with the markets well off the lows seen as the financial turmoil reached a fresh pitch in October on hopes that measures taken so far were beginning to ease some of the strains.
However, there were also more signs of damage in the wider economy, with data in France and Italy showing them sliding into recession. German logistics giant Deutsche Post (Xetra: 555200 - news) warned of losses to come and announced 9,600 more job cuts.
After initial sharp gains, Wall Street began to falter around midday as investors digested news of massive third quarter losses of 29 billion dollars at bailed out mortgage finance provider Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM - news) .
Coupled with news that the US government had had to nearly double to 150 billion dollars the rescue package for key insurer American International Group (NYSE: AIG - news) and fears that General Motors (NYSE: GM - news) stock was worthless, sentiment went into reverse.
"A solid finish on Wall Street last week and the announcement of a stimulus package to sustain the Chinese economy... combined to shore up stock markets," said CMC Markets dealer Matt Buckland early in the day.
Dealers said investors were hopeful that a November 15 Group of 20 summit bringing together the world's major economic powers in Washington will see more progress made in tackling the financial crisis.
The Chinese government announced over the weekend plans to spend four trillion yuan (586 billion dollars) on projects by the end of 2010 to help boost its flagging economy, hit hard by the global financial crisis.
As a result, hard pressed Shanghai soared 7.27 percent while Tokyo, for whom China ranks alongside the United States as a key market, jumped 5.81 percent as Hong Kong gained 3.5 percent and Sydney rose 1.4 percent.
"Markets seem to have priced in a lot of bad news already so that actions like China's stimulus package could prop up the bounce in sentiment," said Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Valentin Marinov.
"The upcoming global summit in Washington could sooth investors' concerns," Marinov said, adding however that "global recession risks loom large... and fundamental disappointments could (test) the recovery in risk appetite."
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.12 percent at around 1700 GMT.
The Chinese package "fueled big gains in foreign markets that have set a bullish tone for the US market," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com of an early New York advance of nearly two percent.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed up 0.89 percent at 4,403.92 points as it gave up gains of more than two percent.
In Paris, the CAC 40 (Paris: news) index gained 1.06 percent at 3,505.75 points and in Frankfurt, the DAX (Xetra: news) was up 1.76 percent to 5.025.53 points.
Elsewhere in Europe, Brussels finished up 1.54 percent, Madrid was down 0.53 percent, Amsterdam rose 0.53 percent, Milan gained 0.86 percent and Swiss stocks put on 1.37 percent.
China's multi-trillion yuan economic stimulus plan unveiled on Sunday was aimed at boosting domestic consumer demand in the face of flagging exports as the country's foreign markets contract in the global financial crisis.
The measures were approved at a cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday, state media said, and would increase spending on infrastructure and a range of other sectors amid slowing domestic growth.
"Given the magnitude of the plan, this will likely have a significant impact in buffering the current (Chinese) deceleration," said Calyon analyst Sebastien Barbe.
"However, let's keep in mind that the global shock is quite strong and that the package is unlikely to reverse the Chinese economic deceleration -- it will only slow its pace."
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