Shares climb 1% in London, set record highs in Madrid and Brussels, fueled by U.S. data
London shares advanced 1% in active trading, getting a late boost from U.S. economic data that eased inflation fears and gave many other European financial markets a lift. The Madrid and Brussels bourses scored all-time highs.</br></br>Tokyo's stock market was closed Tuesday for a Japanese holiday. In early trading Wednesday, the Nikkei 225-stock index surged 307.83 points to 18,978.20 following Tuesday's rally in U.S. markets.</br></br>World-wide, stock prices rose in dollar terms. The Dow Jones World Stock Index was at 149.34, up 2.46, reflecting higher markets in the Americas and Europe and lower markets in Asia/Pacific sectors.</br></br>Computer stocks were the top gainers in the Dow Jones Global Industry Groups, closing at 195.88, up 7.56, or 4.01%, with EMC of the U.S. posting a 7.01% gain. Casino stocks trailed at 186.63, down 1.75, or 0.93%, with Magnum of Malaysia dropping 3.38%.</br></br>In London, the Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100-share index climbed 43.5 points to 4433.2, a half-point from the intraday high and up sharply from the session low of 4395.4. The FT 250-stock index rose 10.8 points to 4507.0. Provisional volume was 865.7 million shares, compared with 622.8 million shares a day earlier.