Investor confidence drives up share values

Eurostoxx 50: 2,792.61 (+6.45) Frankfurt DAX: 6,664.40 (+7.52) Paris CAC: 3,810.22 (+24.01):MOST EUROPEAN stocks rose yesterday as Libya declared an immediate ceasefire and the Group of Seven nations sold yen to ease concern that Japan will sink into recession following the recent earthquake.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.2 per cent to 267.63 at the close in London, as three stocks rose for every one that fell.

“The gains are because of the news out of Libya,” said Guillaume Chaloin, a fund manager at Meeschaert Asset Management in Paris, which oversees $3.5 billion in assets.

“This gives stocks a breath of air. The market has been alternating between all that has been happening in Japan and Libya,” he said.

The G7 jointly intervened in the foreign-exchange market for the first time in more than a decade, selling yen as their markets opened.

The strong yen had threatened to hamper Japan’s recovery from its worst postwar crisis by curtailing the earnings of its exporters.

Parmalat gained 4 per cent to €2.60 after Lactalis, the maker of President butter, said it has a direct holding of 7.28 per cent in the Italian food company and an additional 4.14 per cent under an equity swap contract.

Veolia increased 3 per cent to €21.75 after Cheuvreux raised its recommendation on the world’s biggest water utility to “outperform” from “underperform”.

SAP rose 1.6 per cent to €40.73 after the world’s largest maker of business-management software proposed a 20 per cent increase in its annual dividend to 60 cents a share.

Actelion climbed 2.9 per cent to 49.60 Swiss francs.

Voestalpine soared 2.3 per cent to €31.81. Austria’s biggest steelmaker was raised to “buy” from “hold” at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.

PubliGroupe surged 6.4 per cent to 114.90 francs after Switzerland’s largest advertising company confirmed its return to profitability.

Berkeley Group Holdings, the UK’s second-largest homebuilder by market value, gained 3.6 per cent to 1,040p.

FLSmidth, a cement kiln maker, gained 4.9 per cent to 454.30 kroner.

Titan Cement slumped 6.3 per cent to €16.26. – (Bloomberg)