(MENAFN– ecpulse)
European stocks opened higher Wednesday, tracking gains from the prior session on Wall Street when the NASDAQ closed above 4000 for the first time in 13 years, and upbeat news from Germany.
- Stoxx 600 gained 0.16 percent or 0.50 points to 322.76
The benchmark index closed at the lowest level in almost two week on Tuesday. The gauge is still up 15 percent this year, on track for the best annual performance since 2009.
- Stoxx 50 gained 0.21% to 3067.90 . As of 03:49 a.m. EST.
-Frankfurt’s DAX 30 gained 0.12% or 10.92 points to 9300.99 , on track for an all-time closing high.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel reached a coalition agreement with the Social Democrats early today. The pact put her on track for a third term leading Europe’s biggest economy until 2017.
It also signaled Merkel will continue her European policies including a rejection of joint liability for euro-area nations’ debt. The deal must pass a referendum among the 470,000 members of the SPD.
A release from Research Company GFK AG at 10 a.m. in Nuremberg said that German consumer confidence increased to 7.4 in December from 7.1 in November.
Later in the day, attention turns to the second estimate on U.K. economic growth in the third quarter.
Corporate News
In corporate news, steel giant ArcelorMittal SA and Japan`s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. have teamed up to buy German steel giant ThyssenKrupp AG`s U.S. steel-rolling mill in Alabama for about 200 billion yen or $1.97 billion, Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported in its online edition.
Shares of Compass Group PLC added 1.7% after a well-received earnings report. United Utilities Group PLC gained 1.5% after lifting dividends.
Vivendi SA climbed 3.2 percent after it announce it will change in chairman after it spins off its wireless business.
Accor SA slumped at the highest pace in seven months after saying it plans to separate the operation and ownership of hotels into two different businesses.
-The British FTSE 100 gained 0.17% or 11.25 points to 6647.29
-The French CAC 40 gained 0.09% or 3.91 to 4280.86
U.S. stocks rose broadly overnight as investors digested a slew of economic reports. Building permits jumped to a five-year high in October and home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose at their fastest rate since February 2006, while confidence among consumers unexpectedly declined to a seven-month low in November, data showed.
The Dow and the S&P 500 ended roughly flat, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.6 percent to close above 4,000 for the first time since 2000 .
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