Japan's April exports rose for a second month and consumer confidence in France and Sweden improved, buoying hopes on Wednesday that the global financial crisis was easing and supporting global stocks and oil.
The crisis has slowed economies and credit markets, hobbling firms such as General Motors Corp, which moved closer to becoming the biggest industrial collapse in U.S. history after bondholders rejected a deal on Tuesday.
Japan, the world's second-largest economy, posted a monthly rise in exports due largely to third-ranked China, one of the few major economies seen growing in 2009.
Analysts said it was evidence Beijing's $585 billion stimulus package was helping, though China's central bank on Wednesday offered cautious words on a recovery and urged lenders to extend more credit to help its own exporters.
"There are signs of recovery in exports due to progress in inventory correction overseas and a pick-up in shipments to China," said Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.
"Exports are likely to recover gradually from now on and the Japanese economy is expected to follow suit."
Key exporter Sony Corp has suffered in the downturn and credit ratings agency Moody's downgraded the electronics giant on Wednesday citing slowed economies, price declines and a strong yen.
In the latest Reuters economist poll, Japan's outlook improved, with its economy now seen shrinking 4.0 percent this year from a previous estimate of 4.5 percent.
France, Europe's second-largest economy, posted a small rise in consumer confidence for May with its index at minus 40 from minus 41 a month earlier. In Sweden, the index jumped to minus 11 from minus 21, beating analyst estimates.
"We are in a period of slowing growth even if the pace of the decline is easing and therefore hopes of stabilisation exist," European Central Bank Governing Council member Christian Noyer told the French Senate's Finance Committee.
CONFIDENCE IMPROVES
The more buoyant European outlooks came one day after U.S. consumer confidence rose to an 8-month high.
European and Asian stocks rose following U.S. stock gains and a further U.S. rise was expected on Wednesday.
"We're seeing most risk proxies firmer," said Su-Lin Ong, a senior economist at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney.
"It's not to suggest that there's an 'onward upwards' recovery in the U.S. and the globe, but it is consistent with the idea that the worst is behind us."
Oil topped $63 a barrel, though OPEC ministers are expected to leave the cartel's output unchanged at Thursday's meeting in Vienna.
Confidence among U.S. consumers soared in May in spite of rising jobless numbers and the housing slump, the Conference Board said on Tuesday. The renewed confidence is buoying hopes that the first quarter marked the worst of the downturn, though the U.S. Federal Reserve recently lowered its outlook for the next three years and warned on unemployment.
Global stocks have reflected that improved sentiment, with the MSCI world equity index up 20 percent since the end of the first quarter, during which it shed 11 percent.
HOMES & JOBS
One worry globally is jobs, including in the United States where GM's woes remain frontpage news and April unemployment was the highest for over a quarter century.
Spain's high unemployment means its economy will not face an easy year in 2010, Economy Minister Elena Salgado warned on Wednesday, and another senior government official called for labour reforms.
Job fears are also a factor in U.S. sales of existing homes. Data for April is due at 1400 GMT and economists expect a month-on-month rise but caution that foreclosures are also still rising.
"The housing market is not going to recover until foreclosures stabilise and reduce," said Pete Flint, San Francisco-based chief executive of real estate website Trulia, citing the impact of rising job losses on the market.
The U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association said higher loan rates had hit refinancing, sending demand for mortgage applications to their lowest level since early March.
