European markets rise, led by miners, drugmakers - European commentary

19:12 GMT

May 2008

(RTTNews) - The European markets rose on Thursday, helped by strong gains in mining and pharmaceutical stocks and supported by data showing strong European economic growth.

The Eurozone economy grew more than expected in the first quarter of 2008, boosted by robust expansion in Germany. Gross domestic product in the 15 euro countries increased 0.7% from the fourth quarter, the European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, said today. The pace exceeded the 0.5% growth predicted by economists and the 0.1% growth rate in the U.S.

Preliminary report from the Federal Statistical Office showed that the German economy expanded at a pace of 1.5% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter after seasonal and calendar adjustments. Economists had expected the economy to grow 0.7%.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 0.38% higher at 1,359.86 points, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index rose 0.42% to 3,271.50 points.

Around Europe, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index climbed 0.58% to 6,251.80. BHP Billiton, Anglo American, BP, Cairn Energy, BT group and SABMiller were among the top gainers, while Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Alliance & Leicester, Thomas Cook, ITV and Carphone Warehouse were among the major losers.

France’s CAC 40 index rose 0.04% to 5,057.51. Bouygues, Cap Gemini, LVMH, Vinci and Vivendi were among the notable gainers, while Credit Agricole, Accor, Alcatel-Lucent, Gaz de France, Suez and Renault were among the notable losers.

Germany’s DAX index declined 0.03% to 7,081.05. Bayer, ThyssenKrupp, Munich Re and MAN were among the major losers, while Deutsche Postbank, Henkel and Adidas were among the major gainers.

Mining stocks edged higher after copper prices rose. BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner, surged up 2.6%, while Anglo American, the second biggest, climbed 2.8% and Rio Tinto, the third biggest, rose 2.1%. Copper miner Antofagasta gained 2.1%.

Swiss drugmakers Roche and Novartis rose 2.5% and 1.7%, respectively, on hopes for key cancer drug trials due to be presented at a research meeting at the end of the month.

BT Group, Britain’s biggest phone company, climbed 5.4% after the company posted strong fourth quarter results.

Vivendi, Europe’s largest entertainment group, surged up 5.2% after the company late yesterday reported a smaller than expected drop in first quarter operating profit.

Deutsche Postbank, which is owned by Deutsche Post, rose 3% on market talk of takeover interest from insurer Allianz.

On the other hand, Barclays, Britain’s third largest bank, fell 2% after the company took a new writedown and refused to rule out a rights issue in the future.

Credit Agricole, France’s third largest bank, fell 1.3% after the company confirmed a 5.9 billion euro rights issue and said it would sell assets and restructure its Calyon investment banking arm.

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Posted in Categories: Releases, Stocks.