Forexpros – European stock markets turned higher on Monday, as sentiment improved after better-than-expected trade balance data from the euro zone although concerns over high Spanish borrowing costs limited gains.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 added 0.35%, France’s CAC 40 jumped 0.70%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.50%.
Official data showed earlier that the euro zone posted an external trade surplus of EUR2.8 billion in February, against a deficit of EUR2.8 billion in the same month last year.
The report said that export growth remained stable at 11% year-on-year, while import growth was up 7%.
But concerns that the debt crisis in the bloc is worsening intensified after the cost of insuring Spanish sovereign debt against default rose to a fresh record earlier, pushing the yield on the country’s 10-year bonds back above the 6% level, amid concerns that the government will be unable to meet deficit reduction targets.
Energy stocks led gains as shares in French electric company GDF Suez surged 3.73% and oil and gas major Total climbed 2%, while Germany’s E.ON AG jumped 1.41%.
However, financial stocks remained broadly lower, as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale plummeted 3.36% and 3.40%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank declined 0.82% and 2.68% respectively.
Meanwhile, Royal KPN NV plunged 5.77% as the Dutch wireless communications company was said to consider selling its Belgian mobile-phone unit.
German logistics services provider Kuehne & Nagel International AG also sank 6.97% after posting earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.50%, boosted by strong gains in the energy sector and after industry data showed that house prices in the U.K. rose in April.
International Power was among the session’s top gainers, with shares surging 3.23% after the company reached an agreement with GDF Suez on a cash offer.
Oil and gas major Cairn Energy was also sharply higher, jumping 2.30%, while BP and Tullow Oil advanced 1.08% and 1.25%.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Biliton added to gains, rising 0.71% and 0.50% respectively.
Elsewhere, financial stocks extended earlier losses. Shares in Lloyds Banking plummeted 4.50% and the Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled 4.15%, while Barclays declined 1.61% and HSBC Holdings fell 0.21%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.23%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.14% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.12% gain.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on retail sales and a report on manufacturing activity in New York, as well as official data on net long-term securities transactions and business inventories.
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