European stock markets, including Dublin's ISEQ index, have surged after the US Federal Reserve last night slashed US interest rates by half a percentage point.
The ISEQ index closed up 353 points, or 4.6%, to 7,965 this afternoon. The gains were led by banks, with AIB and Bank of Ireland gaining as much as 8% in value.
London's FTSE closed up 2.8%, while Paris and Frankfurt closed up 3.2% and 2.3% respectively.
Meanwhile, the euro stood at $1.3954 this evening after hitting a record high of $1.3988 on Tuesday in the wake of the US rate cut.
As European markets closed, the Dow Jones was up and the Nasdaq were up around 0.5%, building on last night's rally which followed the Fed's rate cut.
In Asia this morning, Japanese share prices surged by about 3.7% to 16,382 following the bold US rate cut.
