Europe shares benefit from oil but end off highs

Reuters: [2008-05-16 18:37:00]

By Amanda Cooper

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday, fed by a rally in energy stocks as crude oil hit new record highs, although banks coming under pressure and U.S. consumer sentiment data knocked the market back from session peaks.

Crude oil futures <CLc1> hitting a high just shy of $128 a barrel drove up the oil and gas sector in Europe, pushing up shares in Total <TOTF.PA>, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.AS> by 1.5 to 2.5 percent, making them the three largest positive influences on the broader market.

Shares in the UK's biggest electricity producer, British Energy <BGY.L>, rose 5.2 percent after the company said it had received early stage takeover proposals.

Pharmaceuticals put on a strong performance, with France's Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> rising 2.2 percent after investors welcomed positive clinical trial results for its heart drug Multaq.

A decline in bank stocks took some of the lustre off the index, particularly as U.S. stocks slipped into the red.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares rose 0.4 percent to 1,365.2 points, after earlier rising by as much as 1.2 percent to four-month highs. Data showing U.S. consumer confidence data hit its worst level in nearly 28 years stripped the market of many of the day's gains.

But the index still gained 1.5 percent this week, helped by fairly robust earnings as well as U.S. data that showed inflation moderating and consumer spending holding up.

"In general terms, the data specifically coming out of the United States has certainly been supportive, despite the fact that we had disappointing consumer confidence numbers today," said Barclays Stockbrokers strategist Henk Potts.

"There is also relief that the corporate data hasn't really been as bad as people feared, so the combination of those two concepts has added to investor confidence over the last couple of weeks."

BA RISES

British Airways <BAY.L> rose by as much as 7.8 percent after announcing its first dividend since 2001 and posting a 45 percent rise in annual profits. Its stock ended up 4 percent, while German rival Lufthansa <LHAG.DE> rose 2 percent.

The FTSEurofirst is on course for a 1.9 percent gain in May, after rising 6 percent in April and recovering 14 percent since hitting 2-1/2 year lows in mid-March.

"It looks as if a recovery is setting in -- emerging markets are strong, Europe is strong and after the huge amount of worry and panic, it's not as bad as people thought it would be," said Mark Bon, a fund manager at Canada Life.

"The flight to defensives and large caps and the sell-off in emerging markets might all be overdone."

Britain's FTSE <.FTSE> rose 0.8 percent, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> rose 1.1 percent and France's CAC <.FCHI> gained 0.4 percent.

Banks were the worst drag on the European market. Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> lost 3.4 percent, while UBS <UBSN.VX> fell 1.7 percent, Barclays <BARC.L> shed 2 percent and BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> lost 0.8 percent.

Banks accounted for a net 1.2 points worth of decline in the FTSEurofirst 300, compared with the positive contribution of a net 3.3 points from the oil and gas sector.

Shares in the London Stock Exchange <LSE.L> rose 5.1 percent to rank among top percentage gainers on the FTSE 100 on market talk of bid interest after Sanford Bernstein said a fall in the exchange's share price had made the British bourse an affordable target for rivals Nasdaq <NDAQ.O> and NYSE Euronext <NYX.N>.

Technology stocks were stronger, tracking their U.S. peers, which rose on a battle to control Yahoo <YHOO.O>. Nokia <NOK1V.HE> and Siemens <SIEGn.DE> rose 1.8 to 2.3 percent.

The FTSEurofirst has lost 10 percent so far this year, punctured by banks' multibillion dollar writedowns as a result of the credit market crisis, but analysts say a turning point could be at hand.

"We're unlikely to get to last year's highs, but we should make some money this year," said Canada Life's Bon. (Additional reporting by Sitaraman Shankar; editing by Sue Thomas) ((amanda.cooper@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters messaging amanda.cooper.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 207 542 3424))

Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS

 
 ============================================================= 
    For rolling updates on what is moving European shares  
    please click on [STXNEWS/EU] 
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 For pan-Europeanmarket data and news, click on codes in  
 brackets: 
 European Equities speed guide...................<EUR/EQUITY> 
 FTSEurofirst 300 index..............................<.FTEU3> 
 DJ STOXX index......................................<.STOXX> 
 Top 10 STOXX sectors...........................<.PGL.STOXXS> 
 Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors......................<.PGL.STOXXES> 
 Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors...................<.PGL.FTEU3S> 
 Top 25 European pct gainers.......................<.PG.PEUR> 
 Top 25 European pct losers........................<.PL.PEUR> 
    Main stock markets: 
 Dow Jones...............<.DJI>  Wall Street report .....[.N] 
 Nikkei 225.............<.N225>  Tokyo report............[.T] 
 FTSE 100...............<.FTSE>  London report...........[.L] 
 Xetra DAX.............<.GDAXI>  Frankfurt market stories[.F] 
 CAC-40.................<.FCHI>  Paris market stories...[.PA] 
 World Indices......................................<0#.INDEX> 
 Reuters survey of world bourse outlook..........<EQUITYPOLL1> 
 Western European IPO diary...........................[WEU/IPO] 
 European Asset Allocation.........................[EUR/ASSET] 
    Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............[TOP/EQE] 
    Main currency report:...............................[FRX/] 
  Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/ =2 
    

Europe shares off highs, but gain 1.5 pct this week

Reuters: [2008-05-16 17:36:00]

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday, fed by a rally in energy stocks as crude oil prices hit fresh record highs, although banks fell and U.S. consumer sentiment data knocked the market back from session peaks.

Crude oil futures hitting a high just shy of $128 a barrel drove up the oil and gas sector in Europe, pushing up shares in Total <TOTF.PA>, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.AS> by 1.4 to 2.3 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares rose 0.2 percent to close at an unofficial 1,362.76 points, having fallen back from the session high of 1,375.62 after U.S. consumer confidence data hit its worst level in nearly 28 years.

But the index has still gained 1.5 percent this week, helped in large part by fairly robust earnings as well as U.S. data that showed tamer inflation and consumer spending holding up.

"In general terms, the data specifically coming out of the United States has certainly been supportive, despite the fact that we had disappointing consumer confidence numbers today," said Barclays Stockbrokers strategist Henk Potts.

Among the banks, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> lost 3.5 percent, while UBS <UBSN.VX> fell 1.7 percent, Barclays <BARC.L> shed 2.1 percent and BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> lost 0.7 percent.

Reporting by Amanda Cooper) ((amanda.cooper@reuters.com; Reuters messaging amanda.cooper.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 207 542 3424))

Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS CLOSE/

Europe shares pare gains after US consumer data

Reuters: [2008-05-16 16:10:00]

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - European shares pared some gains late on Friday as U.S. consumer sentiment hit its worst level in 28 years in early May, as short-term inflation expectations hit their highest since the stagflationary early 1980's.

By 1408 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> of top European shares was up 0.65 percent at 1,368.77 points, having fallen back from around 1,373 points just before the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey.

Rising crude oil prices <CLc1> made the oil and gas sector the top performer in Europe, as Total <TOTF.PA>, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.AS> rose between 2.1 and 2.5 percent.

(Reporting by Amanda Cooper) ((amanda.cooper@reuters.com; Reuters messaging amanda.cooper.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 207 542 3424))

Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/DATA

EURO GOVT-Bunds add to gains after US sentiment data

Reuters: [2008-05-16 16:06:00]

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond futures extended gains on Friday after a report showing that U.S. consumer confidence tumbled to its lowest in 28 years in May.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers said its preliminary index of confidence fell to 59.5 in May, its lowest since June 1980. In April it was 62.6 and economists' median forecasts in a Reuters poll were for a May reading of 62.0.

The June Bund future <FGBLM8> rose to 113.50 from 113.40 before release of the data. Two-year yields were little changed at 4.005 percent <EU2YT=RR>.

(Reporting by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) ((Reuters Messaging: emelia.sithole.reuters.com@reuters.net, Email: emelia.sithole@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 6752))

Keywords: MARKETS BONDS EURO

EURO GOVT-Bunds trim gains after US housing data

Reuters: [2008-05-16 14:45:00]

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond futures pared gains on Friday after a surprisingly strong rise in U.S. housing starts in April hinted that the U.S. housing market slowdown may not be as severe as previously thought.

U.S. housing starts in April ran at a 1.032 million-unit annual rate, up from a revised 954,000-unit rate in March, while permits rose 4.9 percent to 978,000 a year from a revised 932,000 in March. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast April starts at a 940,000-unit rate and permits at 920,000 a year.

June Bund futures <FGBLM8> briefly fell to a session low of 113.14 from 113.30 before release of the data. They then recovered to 113.31.

(Reporting by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) ((Reuters Messaging: emelia.sithole.reuters.com@reuters.net, Email: emelia.sithole@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 6752))

Keywords: MARKETS BONDS EURO