UK: Europe Shares Move Higher On Positive Sentiment
European shares looked bullish at the start of 2009 after losing ground during most of the 2008 trading sessions. The markets gain was led by mining and financial firms.
Investors in the region are waiting for the markets to hit bottom as the markets across the world have lost share value of as much as $31 trillion. The number of write downs and debt losses in the financial services sector have also increased amounting to $1 trillion.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 moved higher by 2.14 percent to 198.36 on Monday at 11:38 p.m. GMT, extending the year-to-year losses by 43.97 percent from 2008 to 2009.
At 10:39 a.m., in late morning trade session, London's FTSE 100 index was trading higher by 41.96 points or 0.95 percent at 4,476.13 points. Frankfurt's DAX was increasing by 68.77 points or 1.43 percent at 4,878.97 points.
At the same time, the CAC 40 in Paris was trading up by 42.62 points or 1.32 percent at 3,260.59 points.
Crude rates retreated from the multi-year low level in overnight trading after declining below $43 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange this week. The contract has tumbled nearly 72 percent from its peak level in July.
A light sweet crude for February delivery was moving down by $2.50 to $42.10 a barrel in electronic trading on Friday, erasing early this week's surge.
The contract for February delivery moved down by as much as 7.9 percent to $41.08 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In the energy sector, shares of BP PLC, which is region's second-largest oil company, increased by 0.3 percent, followed by Total SA, the region's third- largest oil company, increasing by 0.6 percent.
In the mining sector, shares of BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, advanced by more than 3 percent and Rio Tinto moved higher by 3.2 percent on rising copper and other metal prices in London trading.
In the financial stocks, shares of Societe General moved up by 2.2 percent in Paris, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland PLC increased by 1.8 percent in London trading on Friday.
While, the stock of insurer Friends Provident dropped by 4.5 percent, which was the largest loser on the market, followed by Man Group, which is the world's biggest listed hedge fund, declined by 1.1 percent.
