Euro bailout fund approval boosts global stocks, euro

LONDON -

European shares and the euro rose on Wednesday while Italian and Spanish bonds were little changed after Germany's top court gave its backing to the euro zone's new 700 billion euro European Stability Mechanism bailout fund.

German approval of the ESM was crucial to boost the euro zone's crisis fighting powers and a key requirement for the European Central Bank's new plan to buy the bonds of struggling euro members.

European shares <.FTEU3> rose to stand up 0.14 percent on the day having stood up 0.07 percent just ahead of the decision. The euro hit a new four month high of $1.29017 from $1.2845. German Bund futures fell to a session low of 139.75.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Nigel Stephenson)