Stocks up on bailout | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

European and US stock markets jumped on Thursday after Germany's parliament voted overwhelmingly to boost the eurozone rescue fund and positive US growth and unemployment figures.

Frankfurt's DAX rose 1.10 percent to 5,639.58 points and Paris 1.07 percent to 3,027.65 points.Milan jumped 2.07 percent despite Italy being forced to pay sharply higher interest to borrow funds in its first debt auction since having its credit rating downgraded by Standard & Poor's last week.London's FTSE-100 also rose after the German vote but in the end was dragged down 0.40 percent to 5,196.84 points by weak mining stocks.Wall Street opened strongly after a revision of second quarter US growth to 1.3 percent from 1.0 percent, and US jobless claims falling sharply last week to 391,000, their lowest level since April.Approaching midday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.50 percent at 11,176.23 points, while the broader S&P 500 had added 1.09 percent to 1,163.61 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged up 0.05 percent to 2,492.83 points."US stocks are pointing nicely higher in early trading on Thursday, aided by some favorable US economic data and the approval of the expansion of the eurozone?s bailout fund by Germany," said brokerage Charles Schwab.The German parliament passed a beefed-up rescue fund for stricken eurozone countries by a large majority on Thursday in a vote seen as crucial to stem financial market turmoil.German Chancellor Angela Merkel also got the boost she wanted as an overwhelming majority of her own deputies voted in...