Futures point to firmer stock markets start

16th March 2009

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 At 0730 GMT, futures for the DJ Euro Stoxx STXEc1, Germany's DAX FDXc1
and the French CAC FCEc1 were between 1.4 and 1.8 percent higher. Financial
bookmakers expected Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE to open up 18 to 30 points, or as
much as 0.8 percent.
 At the weekend, G20 finance ministers said they would use their full fiscal
and monetary firepower to combat the downturn. They also pledged to regulate
hedge funds and start closer checks on credit ratings agencies to prevent a
repeat of the financial markets crisis.
 "Given the input from the United States, we are expecting a slightly higher
opening in Europe," said Heino Ruland, analyst at Ruland Research.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. economy should start recovering from
recession next year if there is the political will to complete the costly rescue
of the shattered banking system.