European stocks continued their rally for a second straight session on Friday as steps taken by the US and Europe to prop up banks eased fears of an imminent collapse, but the European index is on track to record a decline for the second week in a row.
The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.8%, as of 08:05 GMT, while the banking index rose 1.3%, after a $30 billion bailout unveiled by big US banks at the First Republic under siege, according to Reuters.
The package came less than a day after Swiss bank Credit Suisse secured an emergency loan from the central bank of up to $54 billion to shore up liquidity.
Credit Suisse shares rose 1.8% in the prime trading, after jumping 19% on Thursday.
Bank-dominated Spanish and Italian indices rose 0.7% and 1.0% respectively, but are on track to suffer big losses for the week.
The Stoxx 600 index closed on Thursday, in up 1.2%, after volatile transactions, as the bailout package obtained by “Credit Suisse” allayed concerns about the European Central Bank raising interest rates by 50 basis points.
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