Europe Slips On Oil

Elena
03 May, 2006
Frankfurt

European markets moved lower at mid-day, reversing from early gains fueled by commodities and mining stocks. Stocks declined on continuously rising oil prices leading auto stocks down. The German DAX 30 dropped 0.6%, the French CAC 40 declined 0.3%, and London FTSE 100 fell 0.6%.

[R]8:15AM European markets dropped at mid-day on rising oil.[/R]
European markets moved lower at mid-day, reversing from early gains fueled by commodities and mining stocks. Stocks declined on continuously rising oil prices leading auto stocks down. Some weakness shown by drug maker GlaxoSmithKline and telecom company Vodafone also weighed. Deutsche Bank and insurer Allianz declined 0.5% and 0.9% respectively, despite strong quarterly results. However, resource stocks like Rio Tinto traded higher on record-high gold prices of above $678 per ounce. The German DAX 30 dropped 0.6%, the French CAC 40 declined 0.3%, and London FTSE 100 fell 0.6%.


[R]7:00AM Hong Kong and Singapore lead markets up.[/R]
Asian markets finished higher. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.2% to 1451.53 at midday on strong banking news from Kookmin Bank, which hit an all-time high before ending the day 0.8% lower. Kospi finished flat at 1435.17. Hyundai ended 1.23% lower despite 2.5% sales growth. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed higher. Hong Kong-listed China shares, finished up 1.32% to 7,100.88. HSBC Holdings advanced as much as 1.3%, after hitting record highs earlier in the session. China Unicom rose 5.6% to a two-year high. Blue-chip property developer Sino Land advanced 4.9%. In Taiwan, shares finished at a new five-and-a-half-year high following the rise of food, paper, cement and construction shares. Australia''s All Ordinaries index also closed flat, edging 0.02% down to 5,221.6, after the central bank announced it was raising interest rates 25 basis points to 5.75%. Crude oil for June delivery advanced 30 cents to $74.91 a barrel in Asian trading. Hong Kong blue-chip Hang Lung Properties rose 2%, China’s PetroChina, the country’s biggest petroleum company advanced 2.3% on energy prices. The yen advanced slightly against the dollar to 113.47 yen vs. dollar, up from 113.26 yen vs. dollar on Tuesday.