EU markets surge as investors believe Lagarde will embrace dovish policy

Government borrowing costs across the single-currency bloc tumbled to record lows and euro zone blue-chip stocks hit their highest in more than a year after Lagarde was appointed

European markets surged on Wednesday as investors bet that France's Christine Lagarde would double-down on the European Central Bank's dovish monetary easing stance as the bank's next chief.

Government borrowing costs across the single-currency bloc tumbled to record lows and euro zone blue-chip stocks hit their highest in more than a year after EU leaders agreed late on Tuesday to name Lagarde as the ECB's new head.

A shrewd negotiator who has run the IMF but has little monetary policy experience, Lagarde would face the challenge as the ECB's new chief of having to revive the euro zone economy with a nearly