European Market Reports

FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40

European Markets Advance  The European markets are trading higher on Wednesday, led by car manufacturers, miners and utilities. Hopes of an economic recovery and firm cues from Asia lifted spirits as traders chose to brush aside worries about sovereign debt and Japan's nuclear crisis. Lenders are mixed as Ireland publishes its new stress-test results on four banks tomorrow. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of euro zone blue chippers is advancing 0.86 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. Companies, is rising 0.77 percent. The German DAX is adding 1.60 percent and the French CAC 40 is up 0.93 percent. The FTSE 100index of the UK is gaining 0.53 percent, while Switzerland's SMI is rising 0.83 percent. Market strategist Ben Potter of IG Markets told dpa-AFX that strong gains in Asia and the previous session's performance in the U.S. led to the rally in European markets. Among the DAX components, truckmaker MAN is gaining 3.3 percent after JP Morgan increased its price target on the stock to 117 euros from 110 euros and reiterated its "Overweight" rating. According to dpa-AFX, analyst Nico Dil raised his profit estimates for the company for 2011 and 2012, citing the commercial vehicles business as the biggest driving force. Volkswagen, BMW andDaimler are advancing between 2.6 percent and 1.75 percent. Deutsche Bank is up 0.45 percent, while Commerzbank is dropping 0.25 percent. Outside the main index, Kontron is up 0.9 percent. The company raised its first quarter revenue outlook and issued full year revenue forecast. A trader told dpa-AFX that the fiscal year forecast was broadly anticipated. Meanwhile, Commerzbank cut wind turbine maker Nordex to "Hold" from "Buy" but raised the price target to 8.50 euros from 7.50 euros, dpa-AFX said. The company is not likely to be one of the main beneficiaries of the planned expansion of wind energy in Germany, analyst Ben Lynch said. The stock is down 4.5 percent in Frankfurt. In France, Carmaker Peugeot is advancing 1.9 percent, and Renault is up 1.4 percent. In utility stocks, Veolia Environnement is adding 1.4 percent and peer Suez Environnement is up 0.5 percent. Gas utility GDF Suez and electric utilty EDF are climbing 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. Among banks, Societe Generale is declining 1.4 percent and Credit Agricole is down 1.15 percent. Natixis and BNP Paribas are also losing. In London, Vedanta Resources is leading the gainers by advancing 4.9 percent. BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and Xstrata are advancing between 2.7 percent and 1.4 percent. Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings are moderately higher. However, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are falling 1.5 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Retailer Mark & Spencer is falling 2.6 percent and Next is down 1.5 percent. Vodafone is down 1.2 percent on a broker action. Sainsbury is losing 0.5 percent. Outside the index, Dixons Retail is falling over 18 percent after cutting its profit forecast for 2011. In economic news from the region, eurozone economic sentiment fell to 107.3 in March from 107.9 in the previous month, survey results from the European Commission showed. The consensus forecast called for a score of 107.5. Meanwhile, an indicator measuring credit hurdle for German industry and trade increased slightly in March, after fourteen successive months of decline. The Ifo Institute said that its credit constraint indicator inched up by 0.1 percentage point from last month to 23.7% in March. Switzerland's KOF Institute's economic barometer rose to 2.24 in March from an upwardly revised 2.19 in February, rising for a third consecutive month. Economists had expected the index to remain at 2.18. Across Asia/Pacific, barring China, major markets closed higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.7 percent, Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.64 percent and Australia's All Ordinaries climbed 1.27 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.07 percent. In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow advanced 0.7 percent, the Nasdaq jumped 1 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent. Among commodities, crude for May delivery is sliding $0.37 to $104.42 per barrel and June gold is adding $2.9 to $1420.4 a troy ounce.