Market Buzz: Looking for a positive catalyst

22 May, 2012 06:09 / Updated 12 years ago

Global stock markets which have been longing for a positive catalyst are mostly dominated by upbeat sentiment.

"The markets are set for a higher open on Tuesday. However we shouldn’t forget that for a full-fledged reversal, the market needs something more significant than a short-term positive catalyst. The market is not supported by fundamentals so far, and therefore new slides into red cannot be ruled out,” says analyst Kirill Markin from Investcafe.Asian stocks are rising on Tuesday, tracking the US gains overnight and on speculation China and Europe will take steps to boost economic growth. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1%, the Shanghai Composite added 0.5%, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was up 1% and South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was 0.9% higher. Global stocks were higher on Monday and commodities snapped a three-day drop as China signaled it would support the economy and G8 leaders pledged to work to keep Greece in the euro. Though European leaders provided only verbal backing investors also cheered up on speculation that European policy-makers will boost a pan-European bank deposit program, which is hoped to protect depositors' interests.Russia’s benchmark MICEX stock index showed its best performance in more than two months on Monday, adding 2.1%. The MICEX entered a bear market on May 17 after losing more than 20% from a March 14 high.A disappointing initial public offering of the world's largest social network Facebook has impacted positively on the cost of shares of Russia's Mail.ru. The country’s largest Internet company and an investor in Facebook fell 9.1% in London. Sberbank, Russia’s number one lender rose the most in five months as President Vladimir Putin reappointed key ministers.The RTS rose 2.2%.Concerns over a Greek exit from the euro and Spain's deteriorating economy continued to dominate investor sentiment in Europe, although the absence of any further bad news helped push stocks higher.The UK's FTSE 100 index was 0.8% higher, Germany's DAX was up 1% and France's CAC 40 was 0.8%. US stocks recovered on Monday after major indices saw steep losses last week. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.09 %, the Standard & Poor's 500 was up 1.6 %.The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 2.46 %.Facebook saw a strong sell-off after its debut last Friday, plunging 11% Monday, sharply below its initial public offering price of $38.