European banks mixed on session

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down by 0.3 percent on the session Thursday as a mixed banking sector was in focus. Airlines were also mixed.

Alitalia was 0.1 percent lower to €0.95 on rumors that it wants to merge with Air France-KLM after it said it would announce a plan soon to return to profits. Meanwhile, Air France-KLM added 2.9 percent to €21.30 after it said that its first-quarter profits were up by 84 percent.

Among banks which saw gains, Piraeus Bank was 0.1 percent higher to €20.42 Banca Popolare Italiana was up by the same percentage to €9.86. Banca Popolare di Verona e Novara added 3.6 percent to €23.20 on merger talks, while National Bank of Greece advanced by 3.9 percent to €32.40 after it reported that its first-half profit was up by 65 percent.

Agriculture Bank of Greece was flat at €4.12 even though Deutsche Bank raised its target share price from €4.70 to €4.90. Meanwhile, Credit Agricole dropped 2.4 percent to €31.71 on investor concerns over the merger in Italy of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo. Agricole holds 18 percent of Intesa. In Belgium, KBC dropped 6.5 percent to €84.05 on a caution that its second half might not live up to performance in the first half. Fortis reduced its recommendation on the banking and insurance group from “buy” to “hold”.

Elsewhere in Europe, Thales added 0.4 percent to €33.92 after Merrill Lynch upgraded the defense electronics group from “neutral” to “buy” on the basis of strong orders. On the other hand, in the semiconductors sector, STMicroeletronics dropped 2.2 percent to €12.85 on a downgrade from “hold” to “sell” from Citigroup.

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