(MENAFN- AFP) European stock markets rose for a second day in a row on Tuesday, boosted by Wall Street's gains and measures taken to tackle a bank crisis in eurozone member Portugal.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index climbed 0.37 percent to stand at 6,702.18 points in midday deals.
Frankfurt's main DAX index gained 0.50 percent to 9,200.19 points and in Paris the CAC 40 index added 0.65 percent to 4,244.87 compared with Monday's close.
Tuesday's trading "appears to suggest fears of a greater market sell-off are easing, as uncertainties surrounding the Portuguese banking system subside", said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Alpari traders.
European stock markets had risen on Monday, recouping some of last week's heavy losses after news of a Portuguese state rescue for Banco Espirito Santo.
French bank Credit Agricole SA reported on Tuesday that its net profit plunged to 17 million euros ($23 million) in the second quarter from 696 million euros a year ago, hit by the collapse of BES.
Credit Agricole said it had been deceived by the family behind BES group of companies, and would back any legal action by a new management team at the Portuguese bank.
Portugal narrowly averted a national disaster and a fresh eurozone crisis on Monday by launching a new bank as part of a rescue for BES. The bailout, totalling nearly 5.0 billion euros, is being overseen by the Portuguese central bank.
Credit Agricole deemed its 14.6-percent share in BES to be worthless, and the total cost of the BES disaster to be 708 million euros.
The French bank's share price was showing a gain of 4.38 percent to 10.74 euros as investors cheered its underlying performance, which does not take into account the losses caused by BES.
French media group Vivendi was trading up 3.97 percent to 19.65 euros after announcing that it had received a firm bid worth 6.7 billion euros for its Brazilian telecom subsidiary GVT from Spanish group Telefonica.
The Spanish firm slid 1.38 percent to 11.82 euros.
InterContinental Hotels Group meanwhile slumped 3.89 percent to 2,273 pence after the owner of Holiday Inn brand reported a slide in profits for the first half of the year.
In foreign exchange trading, the euro fell to $1.3391 from $1.3421 late in New York on Monday.
The European single currency dropped to 79.37 pence from 79.59 pence on Monday. The pound rose to $1.6872 from $1.6862.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold grew to $1,292.75 an ounce from $1,290.50.
Asian stock markets closed lower on Tuesday after an HSBC report showed the performance of China's service sector fell to a record low in July, and despite the positive lead from Wall Street.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.