Global Stocks Up as Bank Anxiety Fades 03/29 04:58

   Global stocks rose Wednesday as anxiety about the global financial system 
began to fade following three high-profile bank failures.

   BEIJING (AP) -- Global stocks rose Wednesday as anxiety about the global 
financial system began to fade following three high-profile bank failures.

   London, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Wall Street futures advanced. Shanghai 
declined. Oil prices gained.

   Fears global banks might be cracking under the strain of interest rate hikes 
to cool inflation temporarily pushed aside unease about slowing economic 
growth. Some calm has returned after regulators announced measures to shore up 
the system.

   "Clearly, investors have not completely lost their anxiety," Robert Carnell 
and Min Joo Kang of ING said in a report.

   In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.7% to 7,533.61. The DAX in 
Frankfurt advanced 0.7% to 15,242.25 and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 1.1% to 
7,168.69.

   On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was up 0.9%. That 
for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7%.

   On Tuesday, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2%. Most stocks in the index gained, but 
that was offset by big declines for some banks and modest losses for tech 
shares.

   The Dow slipped 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.4%.

   In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2% to 3,240.05 while the Nikkei 
225 in Tokyo advanced 1.3% to 27,883.78.

   The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 2.1% to 20,192.40 after Chinese e-commerce 
giant Alibaba Group announced plans to split into six business units in an 
effort to become more agile and unlock value for investors. It said they would 
include e-commerce, entertainment and logistics.

   The Kospi in Seoul added 0.4% to 2,443.92 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 advanced 
0.2% to 7,050.30.

   India's Sensex gained 0.5% to 57,883.28. New Zealand declined while 
Southeast Asian markets rose.

   The failure of two U.S. banks and one in Switzerland creates a dilemma for 
central bankers who are trying to cool economic activity and bring down 
inflation that is near multi-decade highs.

   The Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia normally would hike 
rates further. But the bank failures showed institutions are vulnerable after 
earlier rate increases caused prices of bonds and other assets on their books 
to fall.

   Traders placed bets Tuesday that the Fed will raise rates at its next 
meeting in May, though the slight majority still expects rates to hold steady. 
Traders are still largely betting the Fed will have to cut rates as soon as 
mid-year to prop up the economy.

   Reports on the U.S. economy are mixed. The job market is solid, but smaller 
corners of the economy have been showing more weakness.

   A report Tuesday showed consumer confidence is strengthening, contrary to 
expectations.

   Another report suggested U.S. home prices softened in January from December, 
but not as much as economists expected.

   In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude advanced 44 cents to $73.64 per 
barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract 
rose 39 cents on Tuesday to $73.20. Brent crude, the price basis for 
international oil trading, added 21 cents to $78.35 per barrel in London. It 
gained 53 cents the previous session to $78.65.

   The dollar gained to 131.99 yen from Tuesday's 130.80 yen. The euro declined 
to $1.0831 from $1.0842.