MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets opened higher Wednesday, as investors turn their gaze to the upcoming two-day European Union summit, with banks and drug stocks leading the gains. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5% to 243.83, led by a more than 1% rise for German utility E.On AG and a 1% rise for retailer Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA . The German DAX 30 index rose 0.6% to 6,171.36, while the French CAC 40 index rose 0.6% to 3,024.17. The FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to 5,474.65.
In Hong Kong, Asia’s bastion of free-market capitalism, some residents at public-housing projects drive around in BMWs and carry designer handbags. And therein lies a tale of social welfare gone wild.
It appears that the euro crisis may finally be coming to some sort of conclusion, and in some ways, it is influencing the fixes for the U.S. economy. But does any of this mean you can’t pick stocks?