European equities on good week regardless

Despite bad political news this week, European equities markets had a strong week.

The FTSE Euro first 300 closed at 1,117.56 on Friday. That was down 0.2 percent for the day but a 1.5 percent gain over the week. On Wednesday it had closed at a three-year high of 1,120.59.

The continuing fall of the euro helped export-oriented stocks to perform especially well. The automobile manufacturing sector saw big gains. Shares in Fiat rose 9.1 percent on the week to €5.99. Porsche gained 7.7 percent to €594.50 on a 35 percent rise in US sales last month. BMW rose 3.5 percent to €36.17, and DaimlerChrysler was up 2.3 percent to €33.08.

The semiconductor sector also had a good week. Infineon gained 4.4 percent on the week to €7.52 on word that it had secured a contract to make security chips for German passports. STMicroelectronics was up 4.9 percent to €7.52 and ASML rose to €13.55, a rise of 3.3 percent.

Rising prices on crude oil benefited the oil sector as Royal Dutch advanced by 1.9 percent to €48.35, Eni was up 1.5 percent to €21.17, and Total gained 1.7 percent to €182.60.

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