European stock indexes bounced around on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 up 1.2% and the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 up 1.1% in mid afternoon trading.
Once again financials were the focus of intense speculation, with U.K. bank HSBC Holdings plc at the center of the conversation. On Thursday morning, HSBC emerged as a rumored bidder for subprime-battered Swiss bank UBS, but a later Reuters story cited a source denying that any deal was under discussion.
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HSBC has been on many would-be savior lists these past two weeks. It was named as an early possible bidder for Morgan Stanley before Wachovia Corp arrived on the scene. It has also been identified as a possible buyer of Washington Mutual Inc., along with Citigroup Inc, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and a host of other suspects. HSBC was set to pay $6.3 billion for a 51% stake in Korea Exchange Bank from Lone Star Funds, but the UK bank walked away from the deal last Friday. - Barbara Rudolph
See Dealscape: Korea Exchange Bank not in the cards for HSBC
