BANGKOK – Global stock markets rallied Tuesday as China’s still robust growth in the final quarter of 2011 eased fears of an abrupt slowdown in world’s second-largest economy.

Benchmark oil rose above $100 per barrel, while the dollar fell against the yen and the euro.

In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE rose 0.8 percent at 5,702.64. Germany’s DAX was 0.9 percent higher at 6,278.23 and France’s CAC-40 rose 1 percent to 3,255.78. Wall Street was also set for a higher opening after a three-day holiday. Dow Jones industrial futures rose 0.7 percent to 12,482 and S&P 500 futures gained 0.7 percent to 1,298.50.

Shares in mainland China and Hong Kong shot up after the release of government figures showing that growth in China slowed in the final quarter of 2011 to 8.9 percent, its lowest rate in 2 1/2 years.

Markets welcomed the news, as growth had been expected to settle at 8.7 percent, analysts said.

“That means China’s economy is not slowing down as quickly as expected. That gave an overall boost to market sentiment,” said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

The slowdown was also in line with government plans to cool China’s overheated economy. Analysts expect Beijing to try to stimulate growth this year with an interest rate cut or other measures to free up money for lending.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng soared 3.2 percent at 19,627.75. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 4.2 percent, the most in over two years, closing at 2,298.38. The Shenzhen Composite Index of China’s second, smaller exchange, surged 5.1 percent to 860.25.

“The gains were mainly due to the data released today, which beat the forecasts,” said Li Jianfeng, an analyst at Caida Securities, based in Shanghai. But he said the room for further gains was limited since the general trend is toward slower growth.

The news that China’s economy expanded 8.9 percent in October-December was seen as evidence that Beijing may have staved off a “hard landing” for the economy, though it also prompted expectations authorities may act to support growth.

Comments by Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng signaling the lack of any timetable for introducing an “international board” of foreign company shares in Shanghai also encouraged investors who worry such moves might put added pressure on share prices.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.1 percent to close at 8,466.40. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.8 percent to 1,892.74. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.7 percent to 4,215.60.

Investor sentiment still faces multiple headwinds — the latest being Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the eurozone’s rescue fund by one notch to AA+.

Gains overnight in gold, copper and oil helped commodity shares. Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd., China’s biggest gold miner, soared 12.5 percent.

Hong Kong-listed China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest oil refiner that is also known as Sinopec, surged 4.7 percent. China National Offshore Oil Corp., or CNOOC, added 5.3 percent.

Australian mining shares were also big gainers, including uranium miner Paladin Energy, which leapt 11.8 percent after it reported record production in the three months to December and reaffirmed its full-year production targets.

U.S. markets were closed Monday for a public holiday.

In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.2756 from $1.2670 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.60 yen from 76.96 yen.

Benchmark oil for February delivery jumped $1.75 to $100.45 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 40 cents to settle at $98.70 in New York on Friday.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed from Shanghai.

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BANGKOK – Asian stock markets rose Tuesday, buoyed by a successful sale of French government bonds and China’s economic growth slowing less than expected.

Benchmark oil rose to near $100 per barrel, while the dollar fell against the yen and the euro.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 0.8 percent to 8,447.77. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.9 percent at 19,373.30 and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6 percent to 1,889.09. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.5 percent to 4,210.70.

Shares in mainland China briefly slipped into negative territory before recovering after the release of government figures showing that growth in the world’s second-largest economy slowed in the final quarter of 2011 to 8.9 percent, its lowest rate in 2 1/2 years.

Markets welcomed the news, however, as growth was expected to settle at 8.7 percent, analysts said.

“That means China’s economy is not slowing down as quickly as expected. That gave an overall boost to market sentiment,” said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

Other key benchmark stock indexes posted gains, buoyed by a strong sale of French bonds on Monday and taking a downgrade of the Europe’s emergency bailout fund in stride. Stocks in Singapore, Taiwan, India, Indonesia and New Zealand rose.

France easily sold about euro 8.6 billion ($10.9 billion) of debt with very short maturities, as well as 25-week and 51-week bonds.

On the secondary markets, where the issued bonds are later traded openly, the interest rate on France’s benchmark 10-year bond fell, indicating investors feel France remains a relatively good bet — and perhaps are paying less heed to ratings agencies.

Analysts at Credit Agricole CIB said in an email that “given extremely bearish market sentiment, the market appears to absorb good news more easily and any good news may boost risk appetite with short-covering rallies.”

Investor sentiment still faces multiple headwinds — the latest being Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the eurozone’s rescue fund by one notch to AA+. While that could hurt the fund’s ability to raise cheap bailout money to resolve the continent’s debt crisis, Credit Agricole said the development had largely been priced in to the market.

U.S. markets were closed Monday for a public holiday.

In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.2731 from $1.2670 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.70 yen from 76.96 yen.

Benchmark oil for February delivery jumped $1.28 to $99.98 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 40 cents to settle at $98.70 in New York on Friday.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian stocks jumped more than 4 percent on Wednesday in their biggest single-day gain in more than two years, pushed up by an agreement by global central banks to tackle the euro-zone debt crisis and by a move by China to ease credit.

Commodity prices, particularly for oil, gold and base metals, rose on renewed investor optimism for the global economy, lifting the TSX's heavily weighted materials sector 6 percent.

Miner Goldcorp rose 5.4 percent to C$53.98 and Barrick Gold was up 2.8 percent at C$52.90, to lead gains.

Energy issues, up 4.7 percent, and financial stocks, up nearly 4 percent, also were big contributors to the rally as rejuvenated investors pulled their money from the security of government bonds into riskier plays.

Suncor Energy jumped 5.1 percent to C$30.72 to lead energy gains. Royal Bank of Canada led financials, gaining 5 percent to C$47.26.

The move by the TSX index mirrored hefty gains on other global markets as central banks from the world's leading economies, including the Bank of Canada, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, agreed to lower the cost of dollar swap lines by 50 basis points, as well other measures.

"Santa has come early and he happens to look a lot like (Fed Chairman) Ben Bernanke, right down to the beard, and in his bag he has lots and lots of U.S. dollars available to exchange for euros in unlimited amounts," said Gavin Graham, president of Graham Investment Strategy.

"All the risk assets, whether it's gold or copper or oil or the Canadian dollar, are all shooting up and it's likely that we'll see a continuation of that (for the rest of the year)," Graham said.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 471.61 points, or 4 percent, at 12,204.11. It was the TSX's biggest single-day gain since March 23, 2009 when the market finished up more than 5 percent.

($1=$1.02 Canadian)

(Editing by Rob Wilson; editing by Peter Galloway)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – One out of every 10 companies in the S&P 500 index — including stalwarts like Apple and JPMorgan Chase — is now cheaper than during the 2008-2009 market meltdown.

Even as S&P 500 earnings soar past Wall Street estimates quarter after quarter, the lack of investor confidence has dropped the forward price-to-earnings ratio of at least 50 of the largest U.S. companies below their crisis lows, according to a screen of Thomson Reuters data.

Investors are now willing to risk less cash for every $1 in earnings they expect to rake in for upcoming quarters than they were in 2008 or 2009.

The companies in question are not exactly obscure. Besides Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), others on the list include Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), illustrating the extent of investor pessimism.

"Risk aversion is so great right now that high quality U.S. common stocks are on sale," said Jack de Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Thomson Reuters data shows that 72 percent of the S&P 500 components beat earnings expectations in the second quarter. Estimates updated Tuesday show full-year earnings growth is seen at 14.1 percent for 2012 –just 0.2 percentage point less than the estimate on July 1, and still higher than the 13.6 percent estimate on April 1.

By sector, technology, financials and consumer discretionary shares are trading at valuations not far from their 10-year lows.

"It shows an incredible drop in overall confidence, not only in financial markets but in the political environment," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

"Knowing we are going into a political election year (investors) haven't embraced what we would consider a decent, steady flow of good earnings."

Apple shares are up 350 percent since the start of 2009, while the company's forward P/E ratio has fallen to 12.29, down from 15.52 in late November 2008. Apple is one of those companies whose share price is not keeping up with its rapid growth in earnings.

Other companies on the list are not growing as rapidly. Wal-Mart has seen same-store sales fall every quarter for two years now. Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N), another Dow component on the list, is divesting its personal computer unit amid struggles, as well.

But some of the names are stronger: The second-biggest U.S. bank by assets, JPMorgan, with its stock up more than 19 percent since the start of 2009, has seen its forward P/E decline to 6.63 from 9.44 in January 2008.

"You have a company with a $200 billion market cap like some of these are, and to make that go up you need a lot of capital inflows," said Harbor Advisory's De Gan. "We've seen the P/E on some of these stocks basically decline for 10 years; at some point it becomes ridiculous."

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Leslie Adler)

NEW YORK – U.S. stock futures are rising after the damage from Tropical Storm Irene wound up being less than many analysts had anticipated.

The storm ripped through the East Coast and caused widespread flooding. Millions were without power. However a consulting firm predicted that insured damages would range between $2 billion and $3 billion, lower than initially estimated.

Insurer Travelers Cos. rose 1 percent in premarket trading.

Operators of the New York Stock Exchange and other major U.S. exchanges said would open for trading as usual Monday.

Ninety minutes ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 100 points, or 0.9 percent, at 1,379. S&P 500 index futures are up 13, or 1.1 percent, at 1,189. Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 21, or 1 percent, at 2,185.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street posted its first weekly gain in more than a month as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke raised hopes for more stimulus for the economy at the U.S. central bank's September meeting.

Initially stocks fell after Bernanke stopped short of describing detailed plans to strengthen the ailing economy. But the market turned higher, led by technology shares, as investors concluded the Fed was leaving the door open for action even though many traders believe it has limited power to pull the economy out of a rut.

The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX (.VIX), Wall Street's "fear gauge," retreated after days of uncertainty on what Bernanke would say. The VIX slid 10.2 percent to 35.69, after earlier falling as much as 14 percent to a session low at 34.33.

"He didn't give the market the green light for QE3. He also didn't give the market the red light for QE3," said Kevin Caron, market strategist at Stifel, Nicolaus in Florham Park, New Jersey, referring to a possible third round of quantitative easing.

"By implying that inflation is viewed as not a concern, it leaves the possibility for something down the road," he said.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) ended up 134.72 points, or 1.21 percent, at 11,284.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 17.53 points, or 1.51 percent, at 1,176.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 60.22 points, or 2.49 percent, at 2,479.85.

For the week, the Dow rose 4.3 percent, the S&P gained 4.7 percent and the Nasdaq rose 5.9 percent.

Bernanke, speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said the central bank's policy panel would meet for two days in September instead of the scheduled one-day meeting to discuss any more stimulus.

While expressing long-term optimism, Bernanke said the Fed found recent developments troubling and saw a low inflation as staying low.

Shares of property insurers were mixed after falling earlier in the week on worries that severe damage from Hurricane Irene would result in substantial claims.

Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.N) edged up 0.6 percent to $48.29 after earlier hitting a two-year low. Allstate (ALL.N) was up 0.1 percent at $24.45, having also hit a two-year low. Insurers typically fall before severe weather events and rally later.

Chubb Corp (CB.N) gained 1.2 percent to $59.38.

As Irene bore down on North Carolina, tens of thousands of people evacuated and East Coast cities, including New York, braced for a weekend hit from the powerful storm.

NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) said the New York Stock Exchange plans to open for trading as usual next week, but because of the possibility of flooding, a decision will not be made until Saturday or Sunday.

Technology stocks led the advance, with Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Intel Corp (INTC.O) among the Dow's top gainers.

Cisco shares rose 1.6 percent to $15.32, while Microsoft shares added 2.8 percent to $25.25, and Intel Corp advanced 1.8 percent to $19.77.

The S&P information technology index (.GSPT) shot up 2.3 percent, making it the S&P 500's best-performing sector.

"It's a pretty broad market rally right now, but tech has been really hammered in the selloff, so you see that leading the rally," said Gary Wedbush, head of trading at regional investment bank Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.

Tiffany and Co (TIF.N) rose 9.3 percent to $69.01 after it raised its full-year profit outlook.

About 7.9 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, matching the year-to-date average of 7.9 billion.

On the New York Stock Exchange, advancers beat decliners by a ratio of about 5 to 1. On Nasdaq, about 4 shares rose for every 1 that fell.

(Additional reporting by Ashley Lau, Editing by Kenneth Barry)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks rallied on Tuesday in a volatile session as investors struggled to decipher the Federal Reserve’s signals on the economy after a dizzying two-week slide.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 429.69 points, or 3.97 percent, at 11,239.54, based on the latest figures. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 53.11 points, or 4.74 percent, at 1,172.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 124.83 points, or 5.29 percent, at 2,482.52.

(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Kenneth Barry)