Europe Extends Gains

Ivaylo
16 Jun, 2006
Frankfurt

The gains were helped by the US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke

[R]6:30AM European stocks continue to rebound.[/R]
European stocks traded higher in early session. The FTSE 100 in London advanced 0.6% at 5,654.1, the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was up 0.8% to 5,464.45, the CAC-40 in Paris gained 0.9% at 4,765.45. On the corporate front, Philips Electronics, the Dutch consumer electronics company, agreed to buy Intermagnetics, a US maker of magnets and imaging tools for hospital imaging equipment, for $1.3 billion in cash. The stock advanced 1.8%. OMV, the Austrian oil and gas group, led the gainers, advancing 6.4%. The oil sector was strong as crude jumped above $70 a barrel, with Neste up 2.3% and Repsol 1.3%. EADS shed 2.2% as the aerospace company’s troubles following the announcement of delays to its A380 superjumbo deepened.

Light, sweet crude oil for July delivery advanced 54 cents to $70.04 a barrel and August Brent crude on London''s ICE Futures exchange gained 45 cents to $68.90 per barrel. Gold bullion opened Friday at a bid price of $582.20 a troy ounce, higher than $574.10 late Thursday. The dollar weakened slightly against the euro. The European currency inched up 0.1% at $1.2655, the British pound added 0.1% against the dollar to $1.8531, while the greenback was trading at 114.72 yen in, down 0.28 yen from late Thursday in New York

[R]5:00AM Gold and precious metal embroiled in broad rally.[/R]
August gold ended up $3.80 to $570.30 a troy ounce on NYME. July silver advanced 23.5 cents to $9.97 an ounce. July platinum put $22 up to $1,160.90 an ounce and September palladium advanced $13.15 to $305.80 an ounce. Copper futures recovered most of the steep losses from earlier in the week. The most-traded contract, for July, gained 15.90 cents to finish at $3.2150 a pound.

The July crude oil closed 36 cents higher at $69.50 a barrel after trading in a range of $69.00 to $70.25 a barrel. July gasoline advanced 0.37 cent to $2.0396 a gallon after rallying to $2.0750 a gallon. On the New York Board of Trade, July Arabica coffee futures closed 0.50 cent up at 96.55 cents a pound and September gained 0.50 cent to 98.95 cents a pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for July finished up 0.29 cent at 15.00 cents a pound while October advanced 0.28 cent to 15.33 cents a pound.