Europe Gains on Stronger Dollar

Ivaylo
29 Nov, 2001
New York City

European indexes have been under pressure in recent sessions as shares in exporters were hit by a weaker dollar. European shares broke a five-session losing streak on Wednesday, after comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke calmed down recent concerns about the strength of the U.S economy and as drug stocks got a boost from Pfizer. The U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.52%, the German DAX Xetra 30 index rose 0.47%, and the French CAC-40 index increased 0.54%.

[R]6:30AM European stocks advance in early session Wednesday on relieved worries.[/R]
European markets were higher in early trading on Wednesday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.52% at 6,057.30, the German DAX Xetra 30 index rose 0.47% at 6,311.60, and the French CAC-40 index increased 0.54% at 6,554.67.

Advancers

GlaxoSmithKline traded 2.3% higher after U.S. rival Pfizer said that it would cut 20% of its U.S. salesforce as part of a cost-cutting drive. Exporters such as automakers Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler each rose more than 0.5% while technology shares such as chip maker Infineon Technologies advanced 0.79%.

Shares in steelmaker Corus Group rose 0.3% after it said its third-quarter net profit almost tripled to 142 million pounds, from 50 million pounds a share, a year ago. shares in U.K. building materials company Wolseley rose 3.6% after declining more than 10% in the past month. Morgan Stanley upgraded Credit Suisse to overweight from equal-weight. Credit Suisse shares rose 1.5%

Decliners

Morgan Stanley downgraded several European banks including UBS and Northern Rock. UBS shares dipped 0.5%, Northern Rock shares lost the same amount.

Oil and gold

Oil rose to a one-month high as cold weather swept eastward across the U.S., the world biggest energy user, spurring demand for heating fuel. Crude oil for January delivery rose 54 cents to $61.53 a barrel in after-hours trading on the NYME. The contract traded at $61.43 in early trading in London. Brent crude oil for January rose 49 cents to $61.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Gold traded in London at $638.25 per troy ounce, up from $636.00 late Tuesday.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was higher against other major currencies in European trading Wednesday morning. The euro was quoted at $1.3160, down from $1.3189 late Tuesday. The British pound was at $1.9490, down from $1.9509. The dollar bought 116.19 Japanese yen, up from 116.10.

[R]5:00AM Gold futures fell on Tuesday due to profit-taking, silver gained.[/R]
February gold lost $3.40 to $643.70 a troy ounce on the NYME. March silver settled up 12.6 cents to $13.812 an ounce. January platinum gained $3.20 to close at $1,150.60 an ounce. March palladium settled $1.65 lower to $328.65 an ounce. Most active March copper moved 4.55 cents lower at $3.17 per pound.

Crude oil futures rallied for a second straight session and briefly topped $61.00 a barrel Tuesday on forecasts of colder weather and uncertainty ahead of an OPEC meeting. The January crude contract on the NYME advanced 67 cents to end at $60.99 a barrel. December heating oil settled up 2.31 cents at $1.7283 a gallon. December unleaded gasoline added 3.29 cents to finish at $1.6266 a gallon. December natural gas rose 32.0 cents to close at $8.318 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures ended 2.35 cents higher at $1.2035 a pound. March futures of raw sugar in foreign ports settled up 0.18 cent at 11.99 cents a pound.