European Shares Up

Rumors of Spanish bailout giving some investors hope

EUROPEAN stock markets have chalked up strong gains and the euro has hit $1.30 on fresh hopes that Spain will ask for some sort of aid and improved sentiment regarding Greece, traders say.

A senior Spanish official said late on Monday that Madrid was mulling a request for a line of credit from the EU's new bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the Wall Street Journal reported.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies jumped the next day by 1.12 per cent to close at 5870.54 points.