Shares of BP PLC rise after oil giant successfully sells bonds
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Most European stocks rose early Wednesday, underpinned by gains on Wall Street in the previous session and led higher by oil giant BP and insurer AXA.
Shares of Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (SE:HMB 243.40, -15.60, -6.02%) , however, fell 5.5% after the firm’s third-quarter earnings disappointed investors.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:SXXP 263.04, +0.68, +0.26%) gained 0.5% to 263.58 points in morning trading.
U.S. stocks finished higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA 10,858, +46.10, +0.43%) gaining 0.4%. Investors are awaiting data on euro-zone economic confidence for September, which are due later this morning.
The U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,606, +28.05, +0.50%) rose 0.7% to 5,614.50 points. Shares of BP (BP 39.29, +0.58, +1.50%) (UK:BP. 412.20, +7.05, +1.74%) advanced 1.6% after the energy firm successfully sold $3.5 billion of bonds to investors.
“Many viewed the bond auction as a ‘testing of the waters’, and the result was clear: investors are back on board,” said Chris Purdy, trader at Spreadex, in a note to clients.
Industrial conglomerate Smiths Group PLC gained 1.9% (UK:SMIN 1,226, +12.00, +0.99%) in London after reporting that its fiscal-year profit increased 15%.
Shares of engine maker Rolls-Royce Group (UK:RR. 614.50, +23.00, +3.89%) rallied 3.7% and were one of the top gainers in the FTSE index. Morgan Stanley upgraded Rolls-Royce to overweight on Wednesday.
“We believe the market is missing the potential for improved profitability following the recovery in after-market revenues, progress in new programs and the developed-world replacement cycle kicking in,” the broker said in a note to clients.
In France, the CAC 40 stock index (FR:PX1 3,785, +22.85, +0.61%) advanced 0.8% to 3,7912.26, led higher by shares of AXA SA (FR:CS 13.09, +0.25, +1.95%) , which gained 2%.
Germany’s DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 6,294, +18.03, +0.29%) gained 0.4% to 6,299.32 points, buoyed by the car sector. Shares of BMW AG (DE:BMW 51.30, +0.73, +1.44%) gained 1.5% and Daimler AG (DE:DAI 46.60, +0.53, +1.14%) rose 0.8%.
