Asia Stocks Up As Confidence In US Economy Grows

CARLO PIOVANO

LONDON (AP) — World markets mostly rose Wednesday on hopes that the U.S. economic recovery will gather pace, helping corporate earnings and easing some of the stress generated by Europe's debt crisis.

Stocks have been largely buoyant since U.S. jobs data last week showed an increase in the rate of hiring, suggesting that American consumer spending — one of the drivers of world economic growth — could recover faster than expected.

In Europe, however, the outlook is dark. Though Germany's economy expanded 3 percent in 2011, new figures Wednesday implied it contracted slightly in the fourth quarter. Earlier figures showed industrial production and retail sales had fallen in recent months, indications that even Europe's largest economy is feeling the pinch of the debt crisis.

Those concerns were mostly offset Wednesday by hopes that an improving U.S. economy would translate into solid fourth-quarter profits, which companies will announce over the next few weeks.

One positive early sign came from aluminum maker Alcoa — considered an economic bellwether because so many companies use its products — which said late Monday that its fourth-quarter revenue far outpaced analysts' projections.

By mid-morning, Germany's DAX gained 0.1 percent to 6,167.64 and France's CAC-40 rose 0.6 percent to 3,230.51. while Britain's FTSE 100 was flat at 5,695.42.

Wall Street appeared set for small gains on the open, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 0.1 percent at 12,406 and the broader S&P 500 futures also up 0.1 percent, to 1,286.90.

European debt markets also improved, with Italy's benchmark 10-year bond yield falling below the 7 percent threshold that many consider dangerous over the longer-term. The performance of Italian bonds is a key indicator for the eurozone debt crisis because the country, the currency bloc's third-largest economy, is too large to bail out.

Italian Premier Mario Monti was meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin later in the day, and will likely ask for greater support from fellow EU countries.