Meetings this past weekend between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy helped boost the euro currency as well as equity markets across Europe and the U.S. on Monday.
The euro climbed 1.9% to 1.3651 against the U.S. dollar, while the CAC 40 in France and the DAX in Germany jumped 1.5% and 2.3%, respectively. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) surged 266.75 points, or 2.4%, to 11,369.87.
Merkel and Sarkozy said “after talks in Berlin on Sunday evening that their goal was to come up with a sustainable answer for Greece’s woes, agree how to recapitalise European banks and present a plan for accelerating economic coordination in the euro zone by a G20 summit in Cannes on November 3-4,” according to Reuters.
Sarkozy later stated that “Comprehensive, sustainable and rapid responses before the end of the month – that is the result of this Franco-German meeting.”
Alberto Gallo, a strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland, wrote in a note to clients that “The Merkel-Sarkozy announcement is positive as it focuses on banks. The timing appears ambitious, however. Having a full response to the crisis by month-end sets a high bar.”
Chris Wheeler, an analyst at Mediobanca in London, echoed Gallo’s sentiments. ”It’s great to see Sarkozy and Merkel talking, but they have to come up with some firm conclusions on what needs to be done…The end of the month is a long way away. There has to be some clarity on what we need and it’s not coming through.”
Although the initial reaction by the markets to the meeting was undoubtedly favorable, the coast is far from clear. Merkel and Sarkozy merely reaffirmed pledges to shore up the European banking system but did not provide details on how such a plan would be implemented. In reality, the markets more likely rallied due to the fact that they were coming off several months of losses and were due for a short-term bounce.
Aurizon Discovers Two New High Grade Gold Zones at Marban
- The best results from the new High Grade Western Zone include 906.2 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold over 2.9 meters (m) at hole MB-11-198 at a vertical depth of 175m and 5.9 g/t of gold over 15.7m at hole MB-11-195 at a vertical depth of 125m.
- The Eastern Down Dip Zone is located approximately 400m east of the former Marban mine shaft and includes 6.1 g/t of gold over 12.6m at hole MB-11-242 at a vertical depth of 350m.
- A resource estimate will be completed by the end of the year on the Marban property and will be based on new results obtained.
