European stocks post modest gains
Friday, 28 August 2009
LONDON, Aug 27 (Dow Jones): European stocks quickly reversed early losses to post modest gains overall after the final few earnings reports of the current season surprised to the upside, particularly in Paris.
"The markets continue to perform well and some traders with bearish views are beginning to wonder whether calling for a big correction was simply too obvious," said Robert Pike, head trader at Spreadex.
However, the gains were rather small and the markets did seem to be pulling back, allowing for continued consolidation of profits made earlier in the week.
By 0810 GMT, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.2pc at 237.0. London's FTSE 100 was 0.2pc higher at 4900.7, Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.2pc to 5533.7 and Paris's CAC-40 increased 0.3pc to 3678.4.
"For the bears, September is historically a poor month for equity markets in particular and this may well be giving some comfort. However, the events of the last year could suggest that history may not have such an influence after all," said Pike.
Among the top gainers in Europe, Credit Agricole increased 5.8pc to EUR13.3 after its second-quarter net profit more than doubled. It also said that toxic assets would be less of a burden on future results and this helped to lift other banking peers.
"The markets continue to perform well and some traders with bearish views are beginning to wonder whether calling for a big correction was simply too obvious," said Robert Pike, head trader at Spreadex.
However, the gains were rather small and the markets did seem to be pulling back, allowing for continued consolidation of profits made earlier in the week.
By 0810 GMT, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.2pc at 237.0. London's FTSE 100 was 0.2pc higher at 4900.7, Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.2pc to 5533.7 and Paris's CAC-40 increased 0.3pc to 3678.4.
"For the bears, September is historically a poor month for equity markets in particular and this may well be giving some comfort. However, the events of the last year could suggest that history may not have such an influence after all," said Pike.
Among the top gainers in Europe, Credit Agricole increased 5.8pc to EUR13.3 after its second-quarter net profit more than doubled. It also said that toxic assets would be less of a burden on future results and this helped to lift other banking peers.