By Simon Kennedy
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets eked out further gains in early trading Thursday, with mining stocks again among the strongest performers as commodity prices rallied. Among stocks in focus, shares in drug company Roche Holdings (CH:ROG 137.40, -1.70, -1.22%) dropped around 2% after reporting falling sales, while U.K. retailer WH Smith (UK:SMWH 479.60, +24.60, +5.41%) climbed 5.1% after saying profit for the fiscal year was ahead of expectations. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,729, -18.26, -0.32%) rose 0.2% to 5,758.51, the French CAC 40 index (FR:PX1 3,827, -1.38, -0.04%) added 0.1% at 3,830.75 and the German DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 6,459, +24.95, +0.39%) rose 0.2% to 6,450.46. |
