European stocks surge on ECB boost
European markets bounced back from Wednesday's rout to close uniformly higher on Thursday evening following reassuring comments from ECB president Mario Draghi.
Of the major European indices, the biggest winner on the day was the FTSE MIB index in Italy, which closed the day up by 4.1% at 18,704 points, wiping out most of the losses it saw yesterday. It was helped higher by Draghi's comments as well as assurances from Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi that the country's banking system is "robust".
Here's what happened elsewhere on the continent:
- Germany's DAX 30 - up 1.92%
- Britain's FTSE 100 - up 1.84%
- France's CAC 40 - up 1.92%
- Spain's IBEX 35 - up 1.99%
- The Netherlands' AEX - up 2.69%
Speaking after the ECB announced that it was leaving its base interest rate untouched at -0.3%, Draghi said that there are "no limits" to how far the ECB will go to ensure it meets inflation targets, and that the bank has "power, willingness and determination" to do so.
Draghi's comments were reminiscent of his famous "whatever it takes" line in 2012 to prevent a collapse in the Eurozone and soothe markets.
Markets across Europe were also calmed by the rise of the oil price on the day. Both benchmarks, West Texas Intermediate, and Brent soared after the release of weekly data on supply in the USA. At the close, WTI was up 3.5% to $29.34 per barrel, while Brent gained 3.6% to trade at $28.89.