By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 rose
in midday trade Monday, with investors bargain-hunting after the
market's nearly 3% slide last week.
Movers
HSBC Holdings PLC shares gained 1.7% after the banking sector
heavyweight reported a drop in first-half net profit but offered
positive comments about prospects for key Chinese and U.K.
markets.
Intertek Group PLC shares bounced 5.1% higher as the safety and
testing products company raised its increased interim dividend by
7% to 16 pence a share, from the year-earlier period.
AXA SA rose 3.1% as Bank of America-Merrill Lynch upgraded the
French insurer to buy from neutral. Following significant
year-to-date share-price underperformance, better-than-expected
first-half financial results, "and encouraging signals from
management on strategy, we think now is the right time to become
more constructive on the shares," wrote analyst Blair Stewart.
Banco Comercial Português SA picked up 7%, leading gainers on
the Stoxx Europe 600 after Portugal's central bank late Sunday
unveiled a plan to rescue troubled lender Banco Espírito Santo.
Iliad SA fell 1%, extending Friday's 7% drop after the French
cellphone company made a $15 billion offer to buy a stake in
T-Mobile US (TMUS).
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