European close: Banks and oil shares in demand

Date: Monday 09 Aug 2010

Strong demand in oil and banking shares helped Europe’s leading exchanges close higher on Monday. 

Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Deutsche Bank all closed higher.

In the UK, bosses of big banks have reacted to criticism over lending by outlining a series of proposals to increase the availability of finance to businesses.

The chairman of the British Bankers Association (BBA) Stephen Green, who also chairs HSBC, has written to chancellor George Osborne to underline the industry’s willingness to help give businesses access to adequate finance.

Across the markets, the Dax in Frankfurt closed up 92 points at 6,352, while the Cac in Paris added 61 points to 3,777.
BP’s “static kill” and cementing procedures at the broken MC252 well have been “successful”, stopping oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, the company confirmed Monday as the cost of the spill topped $6bn.

The first of two relief wells should also make contact with the original well on 15 August, the oil giant said. Over 30,000 people, 5,000 vessels and dozens of aircraft are still involved in the response effort, which comes at a cost to BP.

BP, Shell and Total all ended the session with good gains.
International Power was charged up on widespread reports it will reveal a merger with French utility GDF Suez. The deal is expected to be announced tomorrow.

Anglo-Dutch drug giant AstraZeneca has agreed to pay a total of $198m in compensation to about 17,500 claimants in the US in relation to its bipolar disorder treatment Seroquel.

The terms of the agreements, which came after court mediation, are confidential, Astra said. The payments will not be reflected in 2010 earnings and guidance for profits in the year remains unchanged at $6.35 to $6.65.

On the economic front, Germany's exports rose a faster than 3.8% in June and were up 29% on the year, Germany's federal statistics office said.

CAC 40 - Risers
Saint Gobain (SGO) € 33.90 +2.60%
Renault (RNO) € 34.57 +2.54%
Vinci (DG) € 38.47 +2.41%
L'Oreal (OR) € 80.28 +2.35%
GDF Suez (GSZ) € 26.79 +2.29%
Bouygues (EN) € 34.08 +2.27%
BNP Paribas (BNP) € 56.96 +2.24%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 11.24 +2.23%
Schneider Electric (SU) € 92.99 +2.05%
Alstom (ALO) € 42.94 +2.01%
CAC 40 - Fallers
EADS (EAD) € 18.36 -0.94%
Michelin (ML) € 63.66 -0.38%
Suez Environnement Company (SEV) € 14.50 -0.24%
Veolia Environnement (VIE) € 21.15 -0.17%

source:digitallook