Washington - Wall Street stocks rose sharply on Monday amid indications that a second fiscal stimulus package could be on the way to boost the faltering US economy.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in congressional testimony that another stimulus package "seems appropriate." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that President George W Bush was keeping an "open mind" to the idea.
An economic stimulus package passed in February spent 152 billion dollars, most of it through tax credit checks sent to individual taxpayers.
Paris - French shares made strong gains on Monday, closing on the day's high, despite weakness among banking and environmental stocks.
The Paris Bourse's CAC 40 blue-chip index ended the day up 3.56 per cent, at 3,448.51, as advancing issues outpaced fallers by better than 3 to 1.
The winners were led by energy supplier GDF Suez, which was up 12.39 per cent, to 33.03 euros, while another utility, EDF, gained 8.25 per cent, to 44.83 euros.
Frankfurt - Signs of confidence returning to share markets emerged Monday as stocks in Europe and Wall Street gained ground following solid rises across Asia.
By late afternoon trading, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 was up 3.7 per cent at 2349 points as an element of calm characterized share trading amid signs of an easing in the global credit crunch.
Triggered by the surge in defaults in risky US mortgages, the credit squeeze has been a key factor in unleashing the recent round of world share market turmoil.
The pickup in global shares Monday also came after a tumultuous week on stock markets and with companies around the world continuing to roll out third-quarter corporate results.
Washington - Wall Street stocks rose sharply on Monday amid indications that a second fiscal stimulus package could be on the way to boost the faltering US economy.
Paris - French shares made strong gains on Monday, closing on the day's high, despite weakness among banking and environmental stocks.
