European shares shrug off Asian decline
With the London and New York stock exchanges closed today for national holidays attention turned to Asia and mainland Europe. Asia continued to decline on the back of confusion as to the regions centrals banks intentions, which lead to a lot of caution prior to European markets opening.
However, once trading did begin it became evident that investors had not been scared off by recent declines, continuing their bullish trading. Fiat was to be the source of the days biggest headline amid further speculation of a buyout of Chrysler, as they attempt to gain a better foothold in the US market. The carmaker rose by 4.1 percent after the Wall Street Journal published an article suggesting that the company were seeking financing for their take over bid. Fiat already own 58.5 percent of the American firm and are currently considering a possible offer for the remaining 41.5 percent.
In Germany the DAX saw impressive gains across the board, with 29 of its 30 constituents ending the session with an advance. Fresenius SE & Co KGaA saw the only loss in the index, declining by 0.22 percent, or 0.21 euros. The healthcare giant fell after it was announced that they were taking pharmaceutical company DLR to court over patent infringement, as well as reporting worse than expected income.
Commerzbank AG lead the DAX with gains of 4.76 percent, outperforming the market significantly. SAP AG and ThyssenKrupp AG lead the chasing pack with advances of 2.79 percent and 2.24 percent respectively.
The Stoxx 50 saw a remarkably similar scenario unfold throughout the day, with just one of its 50 constituents registering a loss. Cie de St-Gobain was the only decliner, shedding 0.45 percent by the end of the session. Vivendi SA lead the advances in the Stoxx 50, advancing by 2.80 percent, following by DAX constituent SAP AG. Enel SpA and Carrefour SA advanced by 2.38 percent and 2.18 percent respectively.
At the close of play the DAX was up by 0.94 percent, while the Stoxx 50 advanced by 1.11 percent. These gains show a real signal of intent from investors as they go with technical data that points towards the continuation of the recent bullish market trend.
