The Amsterdam stock exchange tipped over the 300 point barrier on Tuesday afternoon before falling back to 299.7 just after 3pm.

It is the first time since October 2008 that the AEX has been over 300 points. At the beginning of March, the blue-chip index sank as low as 199.25 points.
Rob Koenders of asset manager Harmony told the Financieele Dagblad the rally was due to the reappointment of Ben Bernanke as chairman of the US Federal Reserve.