Two major European banks reported markedly higher earnings, including the U.K.’s HSBC Holdings and France’s BNP Paribas. Crude oil prices surged past $80 per barrel, fueling hopes of a stable global economic rebound that will give rise to greater demand for petroleum. The higher oil prices extended gains by ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.
However, shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, Ltd. tumbled by 1.7 percent after the United Arab Emirates declared that it would ban all users of Web-enabled BlackBerry smartphones in the country due to supposed security concerns.