"Europe’s financial markets are picking up where they left off 2013, extending a rally in bonds and stocks that’s making the region’s sovereign debt crisis little more than a fading memory. Banks in Spain and other periphery countries have never been able to borrow as cheaply as they can now. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index of stocks closed at its highest level since May 2008 yesterday and the euro is about its strongest since 2011 against the dollar.
Spanish Banks Spanish and Portuguese banks have posted some of the largest increases among European shares this year. Banco Popular Espanol SA rallied 23 percent through yesterday, the most in the Stoxx 600, and Lisbon’s Banco Espirito Santo SA jumped 16 percent. Bank of Ireland Plc climbed 15 percent. Among the 10 biggest winners in the Stoxx 600, five were banks, data compiled by Bloomberg show. There’s clearly a recovery trade going on,” said Robert Smalley, Global Financials Analyst and head of the credit desk analyst group at UBS AG in New York. European banks have been operating a self-help policy in preparation for the asset quality review.
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