European stocks jump on rate cut, Asian mkts mixed

Asian markets witnessed mixed fortunes on Thursday even as European stocks rallied northwards on rate cuts by the region's central banks to tackle the raging financial turmoil.

While most of the markets in the Asia slipped into the negative territory, European shares climbed as much as three percent.

Gloomy economic scenario coupled with job cuts and uncertainty over the fate of American auto makers seemed to weigh down on investor sentiments.

Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 declined one percent to 7,924.24 points while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped marginally to 13,509.78 points.

Further, South Korea's key index Kospi dropped 1.48 percent to 2,136.21 points.

However, India's 30-share Sensex defied the gloom and soared nearly six percent. The benchmark index shot up 5.51 percent to reach 9,229.75 points on hopes that the country's apex bank will slash rates in the next few days.

On the other hand, European shares climbed nearly two percent, fuelled by rate cuts effected by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

All the three key indices in the region-- London Stock Exchange's FTSE 100, Germany's Dax and France's Cac 40—were trading in the positive zone.

The Bank of England reduced its rate to tow percent, which is reportedly the lowest in nearly 60 years. Following the move, the FTSE 100 rose marginally to 4,186.40 points.

Further, the European Central Bank cut the rate to 2.50 percent, in yet another effort to boost the sagging economies in the region.

Dax went up nearly two percent to 4,654.55 points whereas Cac 40 grew 1.15 percent to 3,202.99 points.