European Shares Edge Higher, Led by Banks, Miners
July 25 2017 - 4:12AM
Dow Jones News
By Riva Gold and Ese Erheriene
European stocks opened a touch higher Tuesday, brushing off
muted leads from U.S. and Asian sessions.
The Stoxx Europe 600 edged up 0.3% in the early minutes of
trading, with banks, insurance companies and miners leading much of
the morning's advance. Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC were up 0.8%
while Barclays PLC added 1.2% and Spain's Banco de Sabadell SA
added 2.2%.
The basic resources sector was supported by an earlier jump in
Chinese iron-ore futures and a climb in base metals prices. Copper
futures hit their best levels since March amid optimism about
Chinese demand and possible supply worries, and were last up 1.5%
at $6,122 a ton.
Shares of Jimmy Choo PLC were up nearly 17% after luxury-fashion
company Michael Kors Holdings reached a deal to buy it for GBP896
million ($1.17 billion).
U.S. stock futures were slightly lower after a quiet session
Monday with shares of Google parent Alphabet Inc. falling around 3%
in after-hours trading after reporting second-quarter earnings. The
stock had gained around 26% so far this year and expectations were
high ahead of the results.
In government bonds, 10-year German yields edged up to 0.501%
from 0.497% Monday, while 10-year Treasury yields were unchanged at
2.253%.
Greece is expected to return to international bond markets for
the first time in three years in a deal set to close Tuesday, with
Athens seeking to swap a bond due in 2019 for a new one that will
mature in 2022.
Antonio Garcia Pascual, economist at Barclays, said that a
combination of contained funding risks, an improving growth
picture, and stronger investor appetite for Greece mitigated many
of the potential pitfalls associated with the decision. "The timing
is favorable from a macroeconomic and market perspective," he
said.
Earlier, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.7%, handily
outperforming stock markets in the region, following a weak session
on Monday. Major banks and mining companies led the advance, while
shares there also drew some support from a climb in oil prices.
Brent crude oil was last up 0.4% at $49.03 a barrel following
pledges from Saudi Arabia and Nigeria to curb exports and output,
respectively.
Indexes in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan were barely changed from
Monday's closing levels while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5% from a
record high.
In currencies, the WSJ Dollar Index edged down 0.1% with the
dollar off 0.2% against the yen and euro and flat against the
British pound. Many investors appeared to be taking a wait-and-see
approach ahead of Wednesday's statement from the Federal Open
Market Committee. Economists expect no change in the fed funds
target rate, though some have speculated the central bank could
announce the start date of its balance sheet runoff.
Razak Musah Baba contributed to this article.
Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com and Ese Erheriene at
ese.erheriene@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 25, 2017 03:57 ET (07:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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