Europe Gains on Oil Advance

Ivaylo
14 Sep, 2006
New York City

European stocks gained ground on Thursday, supported by a higher end on U.S. markets overnight and by updates from retailers like Swiss luxury-goods group Richemont. The U.K. FTSE 100 index advanced 0.3% to 5,912, The German DAX Xetra 30 index rose 0.1% to 5,914, the French CAC-40 index increased 0.3% to 5,150.

[R]6:30AM European markets advance Thursday due to oil and retailers.[/R]
European stocks were higher on Thursday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index advanced 0.3% to 5,912, The German DAX Xetra 30 index rose 0.1% to 5,914, the French CAC-40 index increased 0.3% to 5,150. The large-cap oil companies advanced with BP gaining 1.3% and Total up 0.7%. Neste Oil, the Finnish refiner, advanced 1.3%.

Richemont jumped 2.4% as total sales for the five months ended in August advanced 16%, driven by growth across all its divisions and geographical regions. On the other hand, French supermarket operator Groupe Casino declined 1.9% after reporting first-half net income surged 28% as sales rose 17%. British retailer Kingfisher gained 3.4% after it said first-half net income was unchanged, but total retail sales climbed 6.6%.

Oil advanced for a second day after U.S. stockpiles declined more than expected and the State Department demanded sanctions on Iran. Crude oil for October delivery rose as much as 68 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $64.65 a barrel. Gold opened Thursday at a bid price of $588.70 a troy ounce, up from $587.00 late Wednesday.

The U.S. dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies in European trading Thursday morning. The euro bought $1.2700, up from $1.2692 late Wednesday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.8813, up from $1.8763. The dollar bought 117.71 Japanese yen, up from 117.56.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver posted slight gains on Wednesday.[/R]
December gold gained $2 to settle at $596.30 a troy ounce on the NYME, while December silver advanced 6 cents to $11.20 an ounce. October platinum declined $22.70 to end at $1,185.80 an ounce while December palladium rose $6.25 at $318.35 an ounce. The most-active December copper climbed 1.20 cents at $3.3850 per pound.

October light, sweet crude oil gained 21 cents at $63.97 a barrel and October unleaded gasoline added 0.10 cent at $1.5531 a gallon. October heating oil sank 1.69 cents to finish at $1.7428 a gallon. October natural gas settled down 12.5 cents at $5.449 a million British thermal units. On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures moved up 0.75 cent at $1.0440 a pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for October rose 0.82 cent at 12.37 cents a pound.