Premarket: Europe makes the right noises

Stocks around the world rose as European officials signalled they would work together to recapitalise banks and the Bank of England began a second round of quantitative easing.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 2 per cent, France's CAC 40 gained 2.2 per cent, and Germany's DAX rose 2 per cent. Japan's Nikkei added 1.7 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng leapt almost 5.7 per cent, playing catch-up after being closed on Wednesday.

Dow futures rose 115 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 10,953, while S&P 500 futures gained 11.3 per cent, or 1 per cent, to 1,146.30.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Berlin was ready to recapitalise its banks if needed, while the European Union's executive is proposing that member states carry out a coordinated recapitalisation of banks in the face of mounting concerns about a Greek default. The European Banking Authority said it was examining the resilience of lenders' safety cushions against the backdrop of "the current situation".

The Bank of England voted on Thursday to buy £75-billion more in assets to shield Britain's economy from the euro zone debt crisis and keep the faltering recovery going. The bank kept interest rates on hold at a record low of 0.5 per cent.

The Canadian dollar edged lower to 95.75 U.S. cents.

Gold firmed, as a strong recovery in equity markets cut selling of the precious metal to cover losses elsewhere, and as physical buyers took advantage of lower prices to stock up. Gold rose $11.90 (U.S.) an ounce to $1,653.50.

Oil rose 1.4 per cent to $80.79 a barrel, as economic and industry data suggested global growth may be slightly stronger than anticipated. Data showed U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell last week instead of rising as forecast, while distillates stocks dropped more than expected.

Copper rose to its highest in nearly a week, trading at $7,184.75 a tonne.

Apple Inc. stock fell 1.3 per cent to $373.49 in premarket trading on the Nasdaq after the death of founder Steve Jobs.