World Markets Get G-20 Boost While Dollar Slides

PAN PYLAS

LONDON (AP) — World stock markets rose sharply Monday but the dollar fell after the Group of 20 rich and developing countries agreed to maintain their stimulus measures as long as economies remained weak.

The G-20 finance ministers pledged at a meeting in Scotland to "continue to provide support for the economy until the recovery is assured." The assurance came after U.S. jobs figures showed unemployment hit a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October.

"Weekend news from the G-20, where finance leaders pledged to continue various programs of economic stimulus have given investors fresh hope that the stock market could still have some legs left in it," said Anthony Grech, market strategist at IG Index.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 90 points, or 1.8 percent, at 5,232.72 while Germany's DAX rose 131.47 points, or 2.4 percent, at 5,619.72. The CAC-40 in France was 78.20 points, or 2.1 percent, higher at 3,785.49.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 143.44 points, or 1.4 percent, at 10,166.86 around midday New York time, having earlier struck a new 2009 high of 10,174.87. Meanwhile the open while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15.91 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,085.21.