European stocks soar on US bank rescue plan

PARIS: European stocks soared on Friday, driven by massive gains by banks after the US government announced a plan to cordon off the debt and toxic investments at the heart of the global credit crunch.

In London, the FTSE 100 index of leading companies rose 8.84 percent to close at 5,311.30 points.

In Paris, the CAC 40 jumped 9.27 percent, its largest one-day gain, to 4,324.87 points, and in Frankfurt, the DAX was up 5.56 percent at 6,189.53 points.

All three markets easily regained key support levels that had been breached earlier in the week in some of the most tumultuous trading on record.