BLBG: European Stocks Rise for Fifth Day; Energy Shares Gain
A jump in energy companies pushed European stocks up for a fifth day, extending their biggest advance in more than two years.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.8 percent to 343.11 at 9:51 a.m. in London and climbed as much as 0.9 percent, with a gauge of oil-and-gas companies rallying 1.6 percent. The European measure advanced 3 percent last week, the biggest jump of the year and a fifth gain in six weeks, as energy shares rebounded, the Federal Reserve said it will probably hold rates near zero at least through the first quarter, and the Swiss National Bank introduced its first negative deposit rate since the 1970s.
“The fact that oil has stabilized is giving stocks a little room to move higher,” Jasper Lawler, a market analyst at CMC Markets Plc in London, said by telephone. “Even though many people viewed lower oil prices as a net positive for the economy, there were certain areas of the economy that were over-leveraged and that raised some concerns. In Europe, stocks haven’t regained what they lost.”
Speculation that the European Central Bank will start buying government bonds sent the Stoxx 600 up 13 percent from this year’s low in October through an almost seven-year high on Dec. 5. It then posted its worst six-day slump in three years as energy shares sank with oil prices. The European index has regained more than half of those losses and ended last week 3 percent below its December high.
Total, Shell
Energy companies are heading for their biggest five-day jump since January 2009, posting the largest gain among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600 today. Total SA added 2.4 percent, BP Plc rose 2 percent and Royal Dutch Shell Plc advanced 1.8 percent.
Benchmark measures of Italy, France, the U.K. and Portugal all rallied more than 1 percent. Greece’s ASE Index (ASE) fell 0.3 percent, reversing an earlier gain of as much as 2.4 percent, before a second vote tomorrow to elect a president.
Among companies moving on corporate news, Afren Plc jumped 16 percent after confirming it received an early approach from Seplat Petroleum Development Co. Indra Sistemas SA climbed 2.6 percent after Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported Antonio Hernandez Mancha is in talks with the government to buy a 20 percent stake in the company for British fund Hanson.
Roche Holding AG added 1.3 percent after one of its drugs was approved in Switzerland to treat cervical cancer.
Delta Lloyd NV fell 5.4 percent after saying the Dutch central bank ordered it to dismiss its chief financial officer by 2016 and fined the insurer for allegedly acting contrary to its risk policy using confidential information when it cut interest-rate hedges in 2012. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA lost 4.3 percent after its chairman told Austrian newspaper Der Standard that the Italian lender is seeking to sell assets and increase capital.
Investors will also be watching U.S. data to gauge the strength of the global economy. A report may show the number of existing home sales slipped in November. In Europe, a release from the European Commission will show consumer confidence improved in December, economists forecast.
The volume of Stoxx 600 shares changing hands was 26 percent lower than the 30-day average, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
To contact the reporter on this story: Inyoung Hwang in London at ihwang7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net
