Banks see gains in Europe

In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.4 percent to 1,4740.4, closing at its highest level since May 2001.

In the insurance sector, Munich Re dropped 2 percent to €128.50. Investors and analysts were not happy with its announced buyback plan, worth €1 billion, considering that the reinsurer has excess capital estimated to be in excess of €4 billion.

The European media sector saw declines on the session. Mediaset dropped 0.2 percent to €8.92 on a downgrade as it prepares to release its third-quarter report. Morgan Stanley reduced its rating on the Italian broadcaster from “overweight” to “equal-weight”. Vivendi fell 1.4 percent to €29.60 on the news that its sales in the third quarter were short of what had been anticipated. Growth of its music publishing division and in its French mobile unit was weak, as well.

Banks did well on the day. UBS added 1.1 percent to SFr76.55, while Credit Suisse gained 2 percent to SFr80.35. WestLB raised its target price on both banks, with UBS up from SFr82 to SFr86 and Credit Suisse up from SFr77 to SFr83. Deutsche Postbank was 4.6 percent higher to €61.90 on a third-quarter report that showed net profit up 16.7 percent, with interest income up almost 14 percent.

In the oil sector, Repsol was 2.6 percent higher to €27.76. JP Morgan reiterated its “underweight” rating on the Spanish company but raised its target share price from €21.50 to €23.50.

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