European equity markets nervous before German elections

European equities markets gained back a little ground on Wednesday despite continuing concern about the outcome of Sunday’s election in Germany and new gains in the price of crude oil.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent to 1,205.27, while the Xetra Dax in Germany gained 0.2 percent to end the day at 4,911.17. The Frankfurt-based Dax had been down by 1.8 percent on Tuesday.

The European automobile manufacturing sector saw gains on the day on positive sales numbers from August. Fiat rose 1.5 percent to €7.775 on the announcement that talks with Ford about a partnership to develop small cars for the European market should be concluded by the end of October.

Volkswagen gained 1 percent to €44.56 on news that sales are up by 20 percent. Renault advanced by 0.9 percent to €73.10 on a 9.9 percent increase in sales by Nissan of Japan. Renault owns 44 percent of Nissan. DaimlerChrysler was up 0.3 percent to €40.91.

The oil sector saw gains as well, as Norsk Hydro was up 2.1 percent to NKr716, Statoil ended the day even at NKr158.50, and OMV added 3.2 percent to €48.10 when Merrill Lynch raised its target price to €53 from €43.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Belgian drug and chemicals group Solvay gained 2.3 percent to €92 on the announcement of plans to open a research and development facility in Shanghai sometime in the first three months of next year.

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