(Reuters) – European shares eked out modest gains on Thursday with investors looking for
bargains after three weeks of losses but sentiment remained fragile after lower demand at a Spanish auction rekindled funding
concerns for weaker euro zone
countries.
at the IG Index trading floor in London, December 9, 2011. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly
Chinese shares jumped 1.7 percent the biggest single-day rise since early
February led by non-banking financials after Premier Wen Jiabao said the monopoly formed by the country’s big banks needed
to be broken to get money flowing to cash-starved private firms.
Global stocks dropped more than 1 percent and gold
tumbled to its lowest in nearly three months on Wednesday as persistent worries over the euro zone debt crisis further
undermined sentiment hurt by fading hopes of more stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Lower-rated euro zone
government bonds were expected to remain under pressure, supporting safe-haven German debt and U.S. Treasuries, but the
sell-off in global stocks paused before U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday.
European stocks .FTEU3 rose 0.3 percent with investors tempted back
into the market after the FTSEurofirst 300 index fell to a level at which buyers have returned in the past.
“European
stock markets got to levels yesterday where there is going to be technical support and I would not be surprised if we see a
bounce of 0.5 to 0.8 percent today,” Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index, said.
“We are seeing investors positioning
themselves in what was sold-off yesterday like the miners and the financials.”
MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS
was flat with Asian equities recovering some losses.
German Bund futures were last up 10 ticks at 138.52 with Spanish 10-year yields
flirting around 5.7 percent, near levels last seen before the European Central Bank first injection in December of cheap
three-year funds into the financial system.
The euro inched up 0.1 percent to $1.3156, staying above a three-week low
near $1.3107 hit on Wednesday after the Spanish bond auction.
(Additional reporting by Joanne Frearson. Editing by
Jeremy Gaunt.)