Dresdner Bank deal with Commerzbank to conclude early
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares finished slightly higher Friday, with gains by drug stocks and insurance giant Allianz topping a strong rebound from last week's lows.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 1.3% to 206.25, for a weekly gain of more than 13%. November was still a rough month for equities, with the index off 7% since the end of October.
Allianz shares jumped more than 9% in Frankfurt following news that the sale of its Dresdner Bank unit to Commerzbank will be concluded earlier than expected. See full story.
Commerzbank shares surged 4.9%.
Drug stocks were also doing well, with shares of Roche Holdings up 4.5% and shares of Novartis up 4.4%.
Analyst David Dunk at Dolmen Securities, said: "[Drug stocks] have held up quite well and they are still in favor due to their defensive nature."
Investors are looking for something that's going to be as de-cyclical as possible, he added.
"Fundamental news is still pretty gloomy," noted Stephen Dowds, head of international equities at the Northern Trust. "It will take a while to digest where the economy really is."
Still, economists said any lingering inflation worries for the euro zone were likely put to rest Friday after preliminary data showed that consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 2.1% in November. See full story.
The European Central Bank meets next week to decide on interest rates.
On a national level, the German DAX 30 index rose 0.1% to 4,669.44, the French CAC-40 index gained 0.4% to 3,262.68, and the U.K. FTSE 100 index added 1.5% to 4,288.01.
U.S. shares were mixed as they resumed trading after the Thanksgiving holiday. See U.S. Market Snapshot.
Oil stocks, autos in focus
Among oil stocks, Total declined 2.6% as crude-oil futures fell $2.67 to $51.77 a barrel.
In the banking sector, UBS shares fell 1.6% and HSBC Holdings erased earlier losses to rise 1.3%.
HSBC is in talks with Spanish property developer Metrovacesa over the 810 million pound bridging loan it provided so that Metrovacesa could buy HSBC's headquarters building at Canary Wharf in London for 1.1 billion pounds.
Metrovacesa shares fell 6.5% in Madrid.
In the tech sector, chipmaker STMicroelectronics dropped 5.1% after it cut its fourth-quarter-revenue forecast, citing slower billing, reduced demand and order push-outs.
The situation "reflects the well-known weaknesses in the industry, across most geographies and market segments, and, in particular, in wireless, automotive and computer peripherals," the firm said. See full story.
Rival Infineon Technologies fell 4.2% in Frankfurt. It reports earnings next week.
