LONDON: European stocks soared on Wednesday after a German court ruling approved eurozone bailouts.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies climbed 3.14 per cent to 5,318.59 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 jumped 3.63 per cent to 3,073.18 points and in Frankfurt the DAX rose 4.07 per cent to 5,405.53 points.

Milan rose 4.24 per cent, Brussels 2.8 per cent, Madrid 2.77 per cent, Swiss stocks 2.5 per cent and Lisbon 2.16 per cent.

The Athens stock exchange's main index closed up 7.98 per cent.

The Spanish benchmark 10-year bond slipped under 5 per cent to 4.981 per cent, down from 5.166 per cent, and Italy's 10-year dropped to 5.24 per cent from 5.48 per cent the day before. Germany bond yields still remained extremely low, at 1.904 per cent.

In midday trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.61 per cent to 11,318.14, the broader S&P 500 climbed 2.02 per cent to 1,188.75, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 2.10 per cent to stand at 2,525.81.

Earlier, Asia set the tone for the day. Tokyo jumped 2.01 per cent, Seoul soared 3.78 per cent and Shanghai closed up 1.84 per cent.

Hong Kong put on 1.71 per cent, or 337.50 points, to end at 20,048.00.

Sydney added 2.65 per cent, or 107.9 points, to 4,183.4.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which lost more than two per cent in the first minutes of trade, closed down 0.90 per cent, or 100.96 points, at 11,139.30, its third straight trading day with triple-digit losses.

In other markets:-- Taipei jumped 2.20 per cent, or 161.82 points, to 7,529.01.TSMC rose 3.78 per cent to Tw$68.6 while Formosa Petrochemical was up 2.88 per cent at Tw$82.2.

-- Manila rose 0.28 per cent, or 12.13 points, to 4,315.21.—AFP