European stocks inch up; Greek index slides as trading resumes

By Yomna Yasser On Aug 3, 2015

European stocks inched higher Monday, with investors sorting through a fresh round of earnings reports, as the Greek equity market fell as it reopened for trading after a five-week halt.

The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.66% was up 0.3% at 397.64, with telecommunications, health-care and industrial shares moving higher. But mining, energy and technology issues were in the red.

Greece restarts: Trading in Greek stocks on the Athens Stock Exchange began again Monday after a five-week closure. The Athex Composite GD, -21.84% reopened with a 23% loss at 615.12, and a 25.5% loss year to date. When trading was halted June 29, the benchmark had a year-to-date loss of 3.5%.

In individual names, shares in National Bank of Greece slid 30% after the exchange reopened.

“The political uncertainty is such that it will take a while until investor confidence in Greek assets is fully restored,” Gary Jenkins at LNG Capital told Dow Jones Newswires before the market reopened.

Trading was closed down after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a referendum on the country’s bailout terms.

Movers and shakers: Among corporate advancers, Intertek Group PLC ITRK, +7.11% shares gained 9.7% after the British product-testing company said first-half pretax profit rose 16.1% and said it expects to meet full-year forecasts.

Heineken NV HEIA, +4.24% shares rose 3.2% as the Dutch brewer posted an 88% rise in first-half profit.

Benchmarks: Germany’s DAX 30 DAX, +0.55% was up 0.3% at 11,335.30, while France’s CAC 40 PX1, +0.35% rose 0.2% to 5,090.89. The FTSE 100 UKX, +0.13% tacked on 0.1% to 6,702.56.

Data: Investors got a reading on eurozone manufacturing in July in the Markit purchasing managers’ index, which came in at 52.4, compared with the 52.2 preliminary estimate. The CIPS/Markit manufacturing PMI for the U.K. in July is due at 9.30 a.m. London time.

Released earlier Monday, the Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to a two-year low of 47.8 in July.

Source: MarketWatch