Chip makers, miners among strong performers; Renault falls
By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — European stock markets rose early Tuesday, as strong earnings reports from Infineon Technologies AG and ARM Holdings PLC lifted sentiment. Oil giant BP PLC, however, dropped after its earnings fell short of market expectations.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:STOXX600 281.43, +1.38, +0.49%) rose 0.5% to 281.40 in morning trading.
Worries over the growing unrest in Egypt helped drive losses in the previous session. Demonstrations were expected to intensify further Tuesday, but the army has reportedly vowed not to use force against protesters and Egypt’s new vice president is planning cross-party talks on constitutional reform.
Oil and gas stocks were mostly higher across Europe after the unrest continued to push oil prices higher on Monday.
Crude futures fell 40 cents to $91.79 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex Tuesday.
Energy giant Total SA (FR:FP 43.44, +0.73, +1.71%) (TOT 58.77, +0.97, +1.68%) rose 1.5% and Royal Dutch Shell (UK:RDSA 2,219, +20.00, +0.91%) (RDS.A 70.99, +0.71, +1.01%) climbed 1.2%.
Bucking the positive trend, BP (UK:BP. 475.60, -9.25, -1.91%) (BP 47.47, +1.26, +2.73%) dropped 1.4% after the oil giant’s fourth-quarter profit fell short of market expectations.
Mining stocks also rallied, including a 3.5% gain for Kazakhmys PLC (UK:KAZ 1,566, +60.00, +3.98%) . The gains helped lift the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,881, +18.02, +0.31%) 0.4% to 5,888.26.
In Germany, Infineon Technologies AG (DE:IFX 7.90, +0.10, +1.33%) rose 2.6% after the chip maker said its quarterly profit more than tripled and raised its outlook for revenue growth. The gain contributed to a 0.6% rise for Germany’s DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 7,118, +40.30, +0.57%) to 7,121.37.
Other European markets were also higher. The French CAC 40 (FR:PX1 4,024, +18.77, +0.47%) rose 0.5% to 4,025.59, Spain’s IBEX 35 index gained 0.3% to 10,843.50 and Italy’s FTSE MIB index rose 0.1% to 22,078.
Among other technology stocks, ARM Holdings PLC (UK:ARM 524.00, +8.00, +1.55%) (ARMH 25.04, +0.26, +1.05%) advanced 2.9% after the maker of chips for smartphones and tablet PCs reported a fourth-quarter profit comfortably ahead of market expectations.
The gains helped lift the broader technology sector, including a 1.2% rise for STMicroelectronics (STM 12.12, +0.23, +1.93%) (FR:STM 8.92, +0.08, +0.94%) in Paris and a 1.3% gain for ASML Holding NV (NL:ASML 30.77, +0.27, +0.89%) in Amsterdam.
Elsewhere in Europe, bank stocks were mostly higher after falling on Monday. Societe Generale (FR:GLE 47.61, +0.38, +0.79%) rose 1.1% in Paris.
Shares of Deutsche Bank (DE:DBK 43.25, -0.05, -0.12%) (DB 58.55, -0.35, -0.59%) edged down 0.2% in Frankfurt. The move came after the bank said late Monday in a surprise announcement that it expects fourth-quarter profit to more than halve as it spends money on integrating acquisitions.
Among other stocks on the move, shares in Renault SA (FR:RNO 47.38, -0.56, -1.16%) reversed early gains to trade down 1.1% after the car maker said late Monday that revenue rose around 16% in 2010.
Other automotive stocks were mostly higher, including a 1.6% rise for BMW AG (DE:BMW 56.50, +0.28, +0.50%) .
