NEW! Investment Companies Centre

European close: Stocks close strong

News for Spread Betters

PreviousPrevious
NextNext

There's a new Investor Edition of CMC Markets' spread betting platform... and it's exclusive to DigitalLook.com users...

Get full details about Marketmaker:Investor Edition here. Advertisement

Date: Friday 22 Aug 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - European markets finished with strong gains thanks to financial stocks, which rose on rumours of a bid for US investment bank Lehmann Brothers.

Banks such as UBS, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Postbank and Societe Generale all did well.

Insurance shares traded higher after Aon Corp made a recommended cash offer for UK firm Benfield. Axa and Allianz were higher.

Peugeot and Deutsche Lufthansa were on the rise as oil retreated, having risen to its highest level since 4 August yesterday.

Hochtief rallied in Frankfurt on rumours that the German construction giant could be broken up by two of its main shareholders.

TNT also did well after the Times reported that US parcels giant UPS could bid for the Dutch express-delivery service group as soon as this weekend.

Across the markets, the German Dax rose 105 points to 6342 with the French CAC up 95 points to 4400

Industrial new orders in the euro zone fell a steeper than expected 7.4% year-on-year in June, according to EU statistics office Eurostat.

Digital Look have been voted
"Best Research and Information Provider"

4th Floor, Bankside House, 107 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 4AF.
Registered in England and Wales (registered no. 3678570).