MW: European stocks edge higher, but oil shares underperform
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Europe’s key equity index edged higher Monday, aided by gains for recently beaten-down Swiss shares, but Greek banking stocks fell on concerns about the country’s upcoming general election.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.19% picked up 0.1% to 352.79, a subdued move after rising 3.7% over the past two sessions. Investors are on watch for a possible announcement about a sovereign debt-buying program by the European Central Bank when policy makers meet Thursday.
There are still “significant questions” about how a quantitative-easing program will be constructed, said Societe Generale in a note on Monday.
“The ECB will not likely communicate on any specific volume within its new package of measures, but rather on the effectiveness of its package of measures,” SG analysts said. The QE package will eventually include 400 billion euros ($465 billion) of private assets, and €500 billion to €600 billion of sovereign bonds, they added.
Any announcement on quantitative easing would come ahead of Greece’s general election on Jan. 25. Most of Greek banking stocks fell Monday as the latest opinion polls showed the anti-bailout Syriza party holding a lead ahead of the election. There’s been concern in the market that Syriza will roll back austerity policies if it were to win.
In Athens, shares of Eurobank Ergasias SA EUROB, -4.12% fell 4.1%, National Bank of Greece SA ETE, -2.19% declined 1.5%, Attica Bank SA TATT, +0.00% fell 2% and Piraeus Bank SA TPEIR, +0.00% shed 0.6%. The Athex Composite GD, +0.14% turned lower by 0.4% to 787.34.
Also weighing on the Stoxx 600 were oil and gas stocks as oil prices fell. U.S. oil futures CLG5, +4.11% fell 1.4% to $48.02, and Brent crude oil LCOH5, -0.74% pulled back 1.6% to $49.44. U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
J.P. Morgan Cazenove on Monday cut its ratings on oil majors Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Total SA to neutral from overweight, and BP PLC and Statoil to under weight from neutral. Shell shares RDSB, -0.51% fell 0.7%, Total FP, -0.22% dropped 0.6% and BP BP., -0.86% gave up 1.2%. Statoil shares STL, +0.23% were off 0.5%.
The moves came as J.P. Morgan issued a fresh round of downgrades to its oil and U.S. gas-price forecasts, including a projection for Brent prices at $49 to $57 a barrel this year to 2016. “Though we expect Big Oil to react with cuts to all controllable costs and capex, the group starts 2015 a country mile behind the price curve.”
Read: Oil prices move lower on Monday as ECB in focus
Elsewhere in European trade, Swiss stocks were up for the first day in four sessions, pushing the Swiss Market Index SMI, +3.58% 3.2% higher to 8,154.59. The index on Thursday and Friday fell a combined 14.6%, according to FactSet data, after the unexpected decision by the Swiss National Bank to scrap its currency cap.
All components on the SMI were trading higher Monday, led by a 13.7% jump in shares of investment bank Julius Baer Gruppe BAER, +5.53% and a 12% rise for drug maker Novartis AG NOVN, +4.41%
U.K. stocks UKX, +0.14% rose Monday, moving toward a third day of gains, gaining alongside the broader European market as investors look ahead to the possible launch of a bond-buying program from the European Central Bank.
