European stocks near 1-month high, but miners drop into the red
European stocks edged up Wednesday, hovering near their strongest levels in four weeks, but mining stocks were dragged lower after a round of lackluster updates from metals producers.
The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.7% to 339.73, led by technology and health care shares. But oil and gas and basic materials stocks fell.
A close above 339 would be the highest since June 23, when the index closed at 346.34, according to FactSet. That date was when U.K. voters went to the polls for the Brexit referendum.
The pan-European index on Tuesday shed 0.4% following disappointing corporate updates and weak German economic sentiment data.
But on Wednesday, shares of SAP SE popped up 4.5% after the German business software maker posted a 73% jump in second-quarter net profit, aided by lower restructuring costs and growth in its cloud-services business.
Volkswagen AG shares climbed 6.3%, extending gains after the German automaker said it expects adjusted first-half profit of 7.5 billion euros “despite the ongoing economic impact from the diesel issue.”
SAP and Volkswagen were among the biggest gainers on Germany’s DAX 30, which rose 0.7% to 10,050.13.
Miners: But mining shares dropped after production updates. Anglo American PLC sank to the bottom of the Stoxx 600, down 6% following a mixed second-quarter production report. Its output of iron ore, coal and platinum increased, but diamond and copper tallies fell. The miner is continuing to restructure operations as it responds to volatile commodity prices.
BHP Billiton PLC shares lost 1.9% after the miner said it produced less iron ore than anticipated over the past year.
But the losses in the key mining sector weren’t enough to pull the U.K’s FTSE 100 lower. It was up 0.5% at 6,7127.71.
Other movers: Man Group PLC shares fell 4.3% as the hedge-fund manager’s Chief Executive Manny Roman was named as the next CEO of Pacific Investment Management Co. Pimco, one of the world’s largest bond funds, is part of German insurer Allianz SE, whose shares were up 0.1%.
Electrolux AB shares fell 4.8%. Second-quarter revenue at the Swedish appliance maker was slightly below expectations, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Net profit surged 77%.
Indexes: France’s CAC 40 moved up 0.6% to 4,355.28, and Italy’s FTSE MIB edged up 0.1% to 16,692.84. Spain’s IBEX 35 rose 0.5% to 8,525.90.
The euro was buying $1.1002, down from $1.1016 late Tuesday.
Data: Germany’s Federal Statistics Office said producer prices rose by 0.4% in June from May but were down 2.2% on the year. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a monthly rise by 0.2%, and a 2.4% decrease on the year.
Source: MarketWatch
