European stocks rise, head for weekly gain, Amid company results
By Bloomberg
European stocks advanced, rebounding from Thursday’s decline, as investors weighed company results.
Renault SA jumped 4.4 percent after saying quarterly sales rose 14 percent. AstraZeneca Plc declined 2.3 percent after posting lower first-quarter earnings.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.7 percent to 409.85 at 9:51 a.m. in London, heading for a 1.6 percent weekly advance. Shares extended gains as a gauge of German business confidence jumped to a 10-month high in April, beating forecasts. Stocks fell Thursday as data showed euro-area output grew at a slower pace in April, and Ericsson AB led technology shares lower.
“Yesterday, the market was a bit disappointed by the various PMIs, but on the other hand, the result season looks quite OK so far,” said Christian Zogg, who manages the equivalent of about $10 billion at LLB Asset Management AG in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. “So the market is just making up the losses during the week.”
The volume of Stoxx 600 shares changing hands was 20 percent higher than the 30-day average, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The equity benchmark index has surged 20 percent in 2015, and last reached a record on April 15. It rallied the first two days of this week as results from SAP SE and Actelion Ltd. topped analysts’ projections and China’s central bank boosted stimulus measures.
Greece Talks
Euro-area finance ministers gather Friday in Riga to discuss how to proceed as discussions on more rescue money for Greece drag on. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has urged an acceleration of negotiations with creditors to strike a deal by the end of this month.
Greece’s ASE Index gained 3.3 percent, heading for its biggest weekly advance in more than two months.
“Nobody really expects a lot today and in the longer term, the impact from Greece for European stocks is not so relevant,” said Zogg.
In the U.S., investors will weigh data on durable goods orders before next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
Among stocks also moving on corporate news, Suez Environnement Co. climbed 2.3 percent after the water company reported a 16 percent increase in quarterly earnings.
Electrolux AB jumped 7.6 percent after Europe’s biggest maker of home appliances posted better-than-estimated first- quarter profit
HSBC Holdings Plc rose 3.8 percent after saying that it has started a review into moving its headquarters from the U.K. to Hong Kong.
KPN Upgraded
Royal KPN NV advanced 4.5 percent as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded its rating on the Dutch company to buy, saying that it remains an attractive takeover target and its broadband technology will allow it cut its capital expenditure by more than 20 percent by 2017.
Pearson Plc slipped 0.8 percent after the publisher of the Financial Times reported a drop in first-quarter sales on a constant exchange-rate basis.
A gauge of energy shares on the Stoxx 600 rose for a second day. Total SA contributed the most with a 1.2 percent gain. Oil headed for a sixth weekly advance on speculation that Middle East shipments may be disrupted amid Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen.
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