BLBG:Euro Advances Versus Dollar, Yen as Italian, Spanish Bonds, Equities Rise
The euro strengthened against the dollar and the yen as Italian and Spanish bonds rose, damping concern that the debt crisis will engulf the euro region’s third- and fourth-largest economies.
The 17-member currency advanced versus all but one of 16 major peers tracked by Bloomberg. The European Central Bank bought Italian bonds today, according to five people with knowledge of the transactions, who declined to be identified because the deals are confidential. Caijing magazine reported that China is still willing to buy bonds of nations hit by the debt crisis, citing Zhang Xiaoqiang, a vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.
The euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.3737 as of 12:09 p.m. in London. It was 0.2 percent stronger at 105.42 yen, while Japan’s currency strengthened 0.2 percent to 76.80 per dollar.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 1.5 percent, while futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.7 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net
