London: Europe’s main stock markets diverged yesterday as investors reacted to mixed corporate news and awaited the next moves concerning Greece.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.49 percent to 7,028.24 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris finished 0.36 percent higher at 5,211.09 points.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index fell 0.60 percent to 11,867.37 points despite the German government raising its 2015 growth forecast to 1.8 percent. Milan added 0.32 percent while Madrid shed 0.20 percent.
The euro slid to $1.0728 compared with $1.0735 late in New York on Tuesday. “Investor sentiment was dampened by the overhanging concerns regarding Greece’s debt crisis as officials on both sides struggle to make meaningful progress,” said analyst Kash Kamal at Sucden Financial Research.
Markets were looking ahead to the end of the week when eurozone finance ministers are due to meet in Latvia’s capital Riga.
Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem offered a glimmer of hope on the negotiations with Athens on Tuesday, saying some progress had been made, with the EU pressing Athens to detail a programme of acceptable reforms by Friday.
The Athens stock exchange traded as much as 3 percent lower, before picking up after the ECB stepped up its support for Greek banks to close with a 2.1 percent gain.
Shares in Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco slumped 5.15 percent to 1,048 pence after the supermarket group announced it had plunged into a record loss last year as it took a huge writedown on the value of its property.
Rolls-Royce shares climbed 4.07 percent to 1,048 pence after the British maker of aircraft engines unveiled a new chief executive days after announcing a record deal.
Rolls last week said it had won a contract from Dubai’s Emirates Airline worth a record $9.2bn to supply and maintain Trent 900 engines for 50 Airbus A380 superjumbos.
In Asia, Japanese shares ended above 20,000 yesterday for the first time in 15 years as the country recorded its first trade surplus for almost three years. Tokyo’s Nikkei jumped 1.13 percent to finish at 20,133.90 points, with analysts saying the monthly trade surplus was a good sign for corporate earnings.
Shanghai climbed 2.44 percent, and Hong Kong rose 0.30 percent. But Seoul ended marginally lower while Sydney shed 0.36 percent.
Wall Street stocks pushed higher on a flood of mixed earnings reports, some of which bested expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.24 percent to stand at 17,991.99 points in midday trading. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.21 percent to 2,101.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.15 percent to 5,021.72.
AFP
