AFP/London

European stock markets climbed yesterday and the euro recovered versus the dollar as Cypriots showed calm when their banks reopened and traders prepared for a long Easter weekend as the first quarter draws to a close.
At close in the last session before the Easter break, London’s FTSE 100 index of leading companies rose 0.38% to 6,411.74 points.
In Frankfurt, the Dax 30 edged up 0.08% to 7,895.31 points, while in Paris the Cac 40 climbed 0.53% to 3,731.42 points.
Madrid gained 0.25%, but Milan fell 0.10% in choppy trade amid continued political uncertainty in Italy.
“The market is being carried by banking shares that have suffered recently,” said Renaud Murail of Barclays Bourse. With the holiday weekend approaching, “the market is gradually digesting the consequences of the Cypriot bailout and political impasse in Italy,” Murail added.
Firmer confidence in the eurozone also boosted Wall Street where the widely-watched S&P 500 pushed past its all-time closing high.
More than an hour into trade, the S&P rose past the all-time closing high of 1,565.15 set on October 9, 2007.
The index has threatened to break the old record for weeks after the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke its 2007 record last month.
But in midday trade, the S&P was off the session high at 1,564.96 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.23% to 14,559.57, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.05% to 3,258.05 points.
Stocks markets have risen solidly since the start of 2013, largely thanks a slowly improving US economy and some better European economic data.
The London stock market has risen 8.71% since the beginning of January, Frankfurt by 2.40% and the Cac 2.48%. Madrid though has fallen 3.0%.
The recovery in equity prices comes as the world’s biggest economies are slowly recovering from a 2012 slowdown, the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation said in a near-term of assessment of G7 nations yesterday.
That rise continued yesterday as Cyprus banks reopened under armed guard after a nearly two-week lockdown, but customers faced harsh curbs to stop them draining the island’s coffers after its eurozone bailout.
Bank share prices were largely higher yesterday after some heavy losses earlier in the week, with BNP Paribas up 0.93% to 40.04 euros and Barclays advancing 1.13% to 291.15 pence. Deutsche Bank however dipped 0.23% to €30.42.
In foreign exchange deals, the euro recovered to $1.2820 from $1.2776 late in New York on Wednesday. The European single currency had on Wednesday fallen under $1.28 for the first time since November.
Gold prices yesterday edged down to $1,598.25 an ounce from $1,603 Wednesday on the London Bullion Market.