Europe Rises On Miners And Tech Stocks

Ivaylo
12 Jul, 2006
New York City

European markets extended its early gains by mid-morning on Wednesday after a late overnight rally on U.S. markets but high oil prices continue to weigh on investor sentiment. Corporate news flow was set to be relatively light. The U.K. FTSE 100 index gained 0.4%, the German DAX Xetra increased 0.9% and the French CAC-40 index rose 0.6%.

[R]6:30AM Europe extends early gains by mi-morning.[/R]
European markets were higher by mid-morning. The U.K. FTSE 100 index gained 0.4% at 5,882, the German DAX Xetra increased 0.9% at 5,663 and the French CAC-40 index rose 0.6% at 4,945. U.K. retailer and business services group GUS advanced 1.2% after it said that same-store sales in the three months ending June 30 at its Argos retail division advanced 7%. Luxury goods supplier Burberry Group increased 1.3% reporting that underlying revenue climbed 12% in its first quarter.

Alcatel which fell 5.9% on Tuesday after soon-to-be-acquired Lucent Technologies warned of a revenue shortfall, inched up 0.3%. U.K. oil company BP fell 0.2%, despite rises for most of the energy sector with oil trading above $74 a barrel, after it reportedly is planning to take a $1 billion stake in Russian oil company Rosneft. Switzerland’s Roche rose 1.1% after majority-owned Genentech reported an 80% profit rise and lifted its fiscal-year earnings guidance.

Oil prices stood firm at above $74 a barrel, raising gold''s attactiveness as a hedge against inflation. Gold traded on Wednesday near five-week highs, supported by firm oil prices and nervousness following bomb attacks which killed more than 180 people in India''s financial hub of Mumbai. Gold was quoted at $642.00/643.00 an ounce by 0958 GMT, against $642.10/644.10 late in New York. The dollar was trading at 114.37 yen in Tokyo midafternoon, up 0.26 yen from late Tuesday in New York. The euro fell to $1.2768 from $1.2771.

[R]5:00AM Mumbai bombings sent gold prices higher.[/R]
The most-traded August gold ended $17 higher at $643.10 a troy ounce at the NYME on Tuesday. The contract reached a five week high of $643.90 an ounce earlier Tuesday. The most-traded September silver contract raced to a session high of $11.60 an ounce. The contract later ended at $11.55 an ounce, up 44 cents on the day. October platinum finished up $23.30 at $1,254 an ounce. The most-traded September copper contract advanced 5.25 cents to settle at $3.6350 per pound.

August crude oil contract advanced 55 cents to $74.16 a barrel. August heating oil contract gained 4.61 cents to $2.0106 a gallon. August gasoline was 1.78 cents higher at $2.1925 a gallon. On the New York Board of Trade, July Arabica coffee futures settled down 0.75 cent at 98.35 cents a pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for October settled up 0.11 cent at 16.57 cents a pound.