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2 December 2010
Last updated at 03:33 ET
Share indexes have risen on hopes the European Central Bank will step up its purchase of European government bonds.
The move could help to ease fears about the big debts of a number of eurozone countries. The UK's FTSE 100 was up 0.7%, with Germany's Dax adding 0.4%.
Japan's Nikkei earlier closed up 1.8%. The Dow Jones rose 2.3% overnight.
Some analysts expect the ECB to announce an expansion of its bond-buying programme after its latest rate-setting meeting on Thursday.
So far it has spent 67bn euros (£56bn; $88bn) on purchasing government bonds.
Global investor sentiment has also been cheered by reports that the US government is prepared to allow more International Monetary Fund money to be used to help indebted eurozone countries.
The euro was steady at $1.3105 in early Thursday trading, following its biggest one-day rise in more than a month on Wednesday.
'Confidence' issue Following the Irish Republic's bail-out, eurozone debt concerns have moved on to Portugal.
Continue reading the main story Prime Minister Jose Socrates insisted on Wednesday that the country did not need bailing out. What the economy needed, he said, was "confidence".
In a radio interview he added: "I do not see any reason to change the position of the Portuguese government which is very clear: we do not need any help, what we need is confidence in the Portuguese economy."
However, BBC business editor Robert Peston said Portuguese officials had told him it was now "not a question of if there will be a bail-out, but when".
Mr Socrates' comments came on the same day as the Portuguese government carried out a successful bond auction.
However, while the 500m euros sale was two and a half times over-subscribed, the yield Lisbon had to offer investors rose sharply, indicating declining confidence in country's finances.
The yield rose to 5.3%, which our editor said was "hugely expensive" for one-year bonds.
Bonds are effectively loans, in this case made by investors to governments.
The higher the yield of a bond at auction, the riskier investors think that loan is, so the government has to offer them a higher rate of return to ensure it attracts enough buyers.
The previous release of one-year Portuguese bonds had a lower yield of 4.8%.
Our business editor also questioned how many of the government bonds were bought by Portuguese banks funded by the European Central Bank.
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The move could help to ease fears about the big debts of a number of eurozone countries. The UK's FTSE 100 was up 0.7%, with Germany's Dax adding 0.4%.
Japan's Nikkei earlier closed up 1.8%. The Dow Jones rose 2.3% overnight.
Some analysts expect the ECB to announce an expansion of its bond-buying programme after its latest rate-setting meeting on Thursday.
So far it has spent 67bn euros (£56bn; $88bn) on purchasing government bonds.
Global investor sentiment has also been cheered by reports that the US government is prepared to allow more International Monetary Fund money to be used to help indebted eurozone countries.
The euro was steady at $1.3105 in early Thursday trading, following its biggest one-day rise in more than a month on Wednesday.
'Confidence' issue Following the Irish Republic's bail-out, eurozone debt concerns have moved on to Portugal.
Continue reading the main story Prime Minister Jose Socrates insisted on Wednesday that the country did not need bailing out. What the economy needed, he said, was "confidence".
In a radio interview he added: "I do not see any reason to change the position of the Portuguese government which is very clear: we do not need any help, what we need is confidence in the Portuguese economy."
However, BBC business editor Robert Peston said Portuguese officials had told him it was now "not a question of if there will be a bail-out, but when".
Mr Socrates' comments came on the same day as the Portuguese government carried out a successful bond auction.
However, while the 500m euros sale was two and a half times over-subscribed, the yield Lisbon had to offer investors rose sharply, indicating declining confidence in country's finances.
The yield rose to 5.3%, which our editor said was "hugely expensive" for one-year bonds.
Bonds are effectively loans, in this case made by investors to governments.
The higher the yield of a bond at auction, the riskier investors think that loan is, so the government has to offer them a higher rate of return to ensure it attracts enough buyers.
The previous release of one-year Portuguese bonds had a lower yield of 4.8%.
Our business editor also questioned how many of the government bonds were bought by Portuguese banks funded by the European Central Bank.
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