Europe: stocks climb at open

[LONDON] Europe's stock markets rose at the start of trading on Thursday ahead of a deadline for Greece to submit new bailout plans, while a rebound for Chinese shares boosted sentiment.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading companies added 0.27 per cent to 6,507.96 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.44 per cent to 10,795.11.

The CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.61 per cent to 4,667.21 points compared with Wednesday's close.

Greece on Thursday was hurtling toward a midnight deadline to propose reforms needed to unlock billions of euros of fresh aid desperately needed to keep its struggling economy afloat and stop it crashing out of the euro.

Asian markets rose Thursday, reversing heavy morning losses and tracking a surge in Shanghai after China announced new measures to staunch a mainland rout that has fuelled fears about the wider economy.

US stocks had slumped Wednesday on worries about China and Greece in a session that was overshadowed by a lengthy outage at the New York Stock Exchange owing to technical problems.

Federal Reserve policymakers meanwhile favoured caution last month about raising interest rates as they weighed weak spots in the economy and foreign risks, minutes to the meeting showed.

The Bank of England was Thursday widely expected to keep its main lending rate at 0.50 per cent, where it has stood for more than six years.

AFP