Stoxx Europe 600 advances 0.9%

News that France and Germany have asserted Greece will continue to be a member of the eurozone encouraged stock market traders and helped to push up the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

At 08:38 BST today (September 15th) the index was 0.9 per cent up after ending the previous session 1.5 per cent higher, reports Bloomberg.

Yesterday, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel stated that Greece is set to remain part of the eurozone despite the ongoing debt crisis in the country.

However, Zahid Mahmood, senior trader at London Capital, told the news provider: "Given we are not seeing much more than rhetoric at the moment, many people still expect Greece to default and see the move up as nothing more than a relief rally."

Among the firms to make gains yesterday was Kingfisher, which rose 5.1 per cent after posting better than expected earnings.

Despite the advances made by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index recently, over the last 12 months it has declined by 14.36 per cent.

Posted by Clive Arneil