Frankfurt Leads European Rally

Ivaylo
13 Jul, 2007
New York City

European markets rallied Friday with DAX index in Germany striking a new intra-day high with technology, chemical and financial stocks in focus. The markets in London and Paris also advanced buoyed also by the strong rally overnight on Wall Street. SAP, Nokia and Schneider Electric led the gainers, while L

[R]6:30AM European markets are higher Friday with Frankfurt leading the region higher.[/R]

By mid-day trade, national benchmarks rose in all 17 western European markets that were open, except Austria. The DAX 30 index in Germany was trading up 0.9% at 8,124.56, the French CAC-40 index was up 0.6% at 6,137.14 and the U.K.''s FTSE 100 index gained 0.4% at 6,724.50.

Saab AB rose the most in a month, up 1.9%, after the builder of the Gripen fighter plane reported a 48% growth in earnings. Nokia, the world largest mobile handset maker, gained 1.6%.

In Frankfurt, BASF led the advance after UBS upped its price estimate for shares of the largest chemical maker in the world. BASF rose 1.6%. BMW and Volkswagen AG gained after an industry group announced the first rise in European car sales in five months. BMW added 0.6% and Volkswagen rallied 0.8%. GPC Biotech surged 5.6% as Goldman Sachs Group added the unprofitable biotechnology company to its pan-European conviction buy list, on the stock''s attractive valuation.

In Paris, French stocks rose, led by Schneider Electric SA and Alstom SA. Schneider gained 2%, after Citigroup hiked its recommendation on the stock to buy from hold. Alstom, the third-biggest maker of power plants in the world, climbed 0.8 % as Citigroup. also raised its share-price estimate by 27 % on the stock. JPMorgan also lifted its recommendation on the stock to neutral from underweight. On the downside, L''Oreal fell 2.2% after the group posted a 9.4% increase in first-half sales to 8.51 billion euros, broadly in line with expectations, but with a mixed performance in the French and German markets.

In London, U.K. stocks were led higher by Vodafone, up 1.1%, after UBS AG raised its price estimate on the stock. Royal Bank of Scotland, the. second-biggest bank in the U.K, climbed 1.2%. Barclays, the third-largest bank, advanced 0.4%. Ladbrokes added 2.1%, as Deutsche Bank AG raised its recommendation on the world largest publicly-traded gaming company to buy from hold.

Currencies

The euro neared a record high against the dollar on Friday as concerns persisted about the strength of the U.S. economy. The euro traded at $1.3792 overnight, and bought $1.3781 in morning European trading. The British pound edged lower against the dollar, trading at $2.0296 from its level late Thursday of $2.0304. The dollar slipped to 122.33 Japanese yen from 122.41 yen.


[R]5:30AM Gold gains Thursday as dollar softens, copper also declines, gasoline drops.[/R]

August gold reached $671 an ounce in intraday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, then finished up $6.20 at $668.30 an ounce.

September silver advanced 20.5 cents to end at $13.18 an ounce.

September copper slid 4.05 cents to finish at $3.581 a pound on the Nymex.

Lead finished flat while zinc rose 2%.

Energy prices declined as several refineries restarted operations, raising hopes for increased gasoline output.

Crude oil jumped first more than $1, then retreated to close down 6 cents at $72.50 a barrel.

Gasoline prices dipped 4 cents to settle at $2.2663 a gallon.

December corn gained 9.6 cents to close at $3.65 a bushel.

Wheat prices edged 0.4 cent lower to close at $6.214 a bushel.

Soybeans added 18.6 cents to settle at $9.414 a bushel.