European Shares Buoyed By Earnings AROUND THE MARKETS STOCKS: LONDON:
Posted on: Sunday, 26 February 2006, 09:00 CST
European stock markets rose on Friday as positive earnings data and takeover speculation offset the decline Thursday on Wall Street. "There's still potential in the market," said Gunther Gerstenberger, a fund manager at PEH Wertpapier in Germany. "Earnings development in Europe is better than in the U.S. Momentum is decreasing a little, but we're still seeing good growth rates." In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones EuroStoxx 50 rose 5.40 points to 3,818.69. The FTSE 100 in London jumped 21.40 points to 5,857.40, while the CAC gained 14.49 points to 5,054.88. In Frankfurt, the DAX added 8.45 points to 5,866.33. So far, 21 of the 33 companies in the Stoxx 50 that have reported results have exceeded analysts' projections, the highest proportion to do so since the first quarter of last year. Earnings this year are forecast to rise 8.2 percent this year, according to FactSet. Shares of Suez, the French utility, rose for a fourth day after a report that the company might ally with Gaz de France to counter any hostile bid by Enel of Italy. Shares of the Paris-based Suez were 1.40 higher at 33.40. The stock has gained 25 percent this year, compared with a 6.9 percent gain for the CAC 40 index. Shares of Gaz de France gained as much as 85 cents, or 3 percent, to 29.45 and were trading 68 cents higher at 29.28 in the afternoon.
In Asia, shares in Tokyo and Hong Kong edged higher Friday, but other Asian markets were mixed. The Nikkei 225 index added 5.81 points to 16,101.91, while the Hang Seng index firmed 43.52 points to 15,856.05.
Shares of Lenovo, the maker of personal computers, fell on concern that marketing costs will increase as the company releases its first own-brand computers outside China since buying International Business Machines' PC unit.
Lenovo's stock dropped 7.5 cents to 3.25 Hong Kong dollars. The company on Thursday started selling two desktop computers and three laptops aimed at businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
Source: International Herald Tribune
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