DJ MARKET COMMENT: European Stocks Trade Higher
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index edged up 0.3% at 397.97, with mining shares up 0.7% and the oil and gas sector up 0.4%. Miners BHP Billiton and Xstrata tacked on more than 0.9%, while oil giant Royal Dutch Shell shares advanced 0.5%. Copper, gold, silver and oil futures all advanced in electronic trading.
Around the regions, the U.K. FTSE 100 index advanced 0.3% at 6,638.40, the German DAX Xetra 30 index rose 0.4% at 7,911.86 and the French CAC-40 index increased 0.2% at 6,113.02.
Investors are likely waiting for a steer on the state of the U.S. economy from jobs data due out later in the session. Non-farm payroll growth is seen rebounding to around 150,000 in May, from 88,000 jobs created in April.
U.S. economic news has received a mixed reaction this week, with comments on growth from the Federal Reserve's interest rate setting meeting providing a counterweight to data showing gross domestic product growth of just 0.6% in the first quarter of 2007.
Utility shares were also performing well for the second day, with RWE shares up 1.1% in Germany and EDF shares up 1.6% in France. Germany's E.On placed the sector into sharp relief when it detailed well-received capital return plans.
Shares of Spain's Iberdrola added another 1.5%, extending gains after Belgian financier Albert Frere disclosed he bought a 5% stake.
There were also gains in the technology sector. Shares of German semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies rose 1.6%, extending gains made Thursday when Goldman Sachs added the company to its conviction buy list. ASML Holding, the Dutch chip equipment maker, added 1.9%, as it continued to benefit from a stock buyback plan announced Thursday.
Among scarce earnings news, shares of French champagne maker Laurent-Perrier rose 1.6% after it said that its profit for the year ending March 31 rose 34.4% to EUR30.2 million ($40.6 million) as sales for the period grew 13.7% to EUR236.7 million.
The company said, however, that it expects volume growth to slow down sharply in the current year with the exception of its Laurent-Perrier branded champagne.
-Contact Paul Larkins, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-9319; paul.larkins@dowjones.com