London: World stocks rose yesterday and the euro held on to most of the previous day's sharp gains as strong company earnings from both sides of the Atlantic shifted focus away from concerns about euro zone debt.
French bank BNP Paribas rose more than 3 per cent after it took fewer bad debt provisions than expected in the fourth quarter, helping it beat forecasts. Wall Street rallied on Tuesday after a strong revenue report from drugmaker Merck & Co and a firmer regional manufacturing survey.
Gains in world stocks rekindled investor risk appetite which had taken a hit from concerns about the swollen debt of Greece and other euro zone countries.
European ministers told Athens on Tuesday it may need to take further steps to bring its debt under control and calm "irrational" financial markets.
"There was a follow through this morning from the positive close that we saw in the United States. BNP Paribas results were good... and that set quite a positive tone for markets early on," said Nick Serff, market strategist at City Index.
The MSCI world equity index rose 0.8 per cent while the FTSEurofirst 300 index gained nearly 1 per cent. US stock futures rose 0.3 per cent, pointing to a firmer open on Wall Street.
According to Thomson Reuters data, quarterly earnings growth for S&P 500 firms for the fourth quarter stood at 211.3 per cent. Of 76 per cent of S&P 500 firms that have reported their results so far, 72 per cent have beaten their expectations.
"Economic data continues to suggest that the recovery should be sustainable," Bob Doll, global chief investment officer of equities for BlackRock, said in a note.
