Eurofirst gains on banks, oil

Gains in the oil and banking sectors helped European equities markets higher on Monday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.4 percent to 1,318.95.

Carmaker Renault added 0.2 percent to €84.20 ahead of a board meeting set to discuss whether it will, along with Nissan, go into business with US automaker General Motors. At least one analyst said that such a partnership would make sense, but that it should be approached carefully considering the relatively weak position of GM at present.

The banking sector was mixed, but still helped out European markets as a whole. The National Bank of Greece dropped 4.1 percent to €29.62 on profit taking after a gain of almost 9 percent on Friday. Elsewhere, things were better. Banca Popolare Italiana added 6 percent to €7.77 after an Italian newspaper reported over the weekend that Societe Generale, Fortis, and Deutsche Bank had all approached Popolare with bids. Deutsche Bank gained 0.5 percent to €88.40, Societe Generale was up 0.9 percent to €116, and Fortis advanced by 1.6 percent to €27.10.

Among oil stocks, Cepsa gained 1.4 percent to €55.85, while Statoil added 1.7 percent to NKr179.50.

EADS dropped 0.8 percent to €22.28 after Rothschild valued the 20 percent of Airbus that BAE Systems owns at a lower figure than had been expected. BAE Systems also declined, by 3.3 percent. EADS also announced, over the weekend, that co-chief executive has resigned over the Airbus A380 delays and investigations into his financial dealings and that the head of Airbus, Gustav Humbert, was also stepping down.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Eurofirst gains on banks, oil