Stocks hit two-month high on positive US data

Eurostoxx 50: 3,006.81 (+52.18) Frankfurt DAX: 7,184.27 (+106.79) Paris CAC: 4,072.62 (+67.12)EUROPEAN STOCKS climbed by the most in two months yesterday after reports showed manufacturing expanded in the US and China, boosting confidence in the strength of the global economic recovery.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index rallied 1.5 per cent to 284.2 at close in London, the biggest gain since December 2nd.

“Egypt was an excuse for profit taking,” said Markus Steinbeis, head of equity portfolio management at the Unterfoehring, Germany-based unit of Pioneer Investments KGmbH. “It’s more about macroeconomic themes at the moment. I expect a rally until the end of the week but overall we’re in a consolidation mood.”

BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, advanced 2.1 per cent to 2,430p, pulling a gauge of basic-resource producers to the third-biggest gain among the Stoxx 600’s 19 industry groups.

Rio Tinto, the third-largest mining company, gained 1.5 per cent to 4,344p as copper rose to records in New York and London while aluminium and nickel climbed to two-year highs.

Kazakhmys, Kazakhstan’s biggest copper producer, rose 4.8 per cent to 1,578p.

National Bank of Greece jumped 7.7 per cent to €7.60.

Public Power Corporation, Greece’s electricity producer, gained 2.6 per cent to €12.26.

Infineon climbed 1.3 per cent to €7.82, ending two days of declines. Europe’s second-largest chipmaker raised its full-year forecast after reporting a better-than-predicted first-quarter profit on surging demand for automotive and industrial semiconductors.

ARM advanced 6.1 per cent to 547.5p, the highest since 2001. The designer of semiconductors used in most smartphones, including Apple’s iPhone, said fourth-quarter revenue rose 34 per cent to £113.9 million ($183 million). Analysts had estimated sales at £105.8 million in a Bloomberg survey.

Autonomy soared 6.3 per cent to 1,590p, the largest gain since May 2009.

Banco de Valencia surged 4.8 per cent to €3.71.

A group of seven savings bank led by Caja Madrid plans to use Banco Valencia as a vehicle through which to make a stock-market listing, El Economista reported. – (Bloomberg)