Equities rise on Deutsche Post's earnings increase

Eurostoxx 50: 2,939.02 (+36.62) Frankfurt DAX: 7,501.52 (+91.00) Paris CAC: 4,052.51 (+45.25): EUROPEAN STOCKS climbed yesterday, as InterContinental Hotels and Deutsche Post posted increased earnings, helping to reassure investors that the global economic recovery remains intact.

“The good thing for Europe is not that there are not problems, but for the most part they’ve already been reflected in prices,” said Russ Koesterich, the global chief investment strategist for the IShares unit of BlackRock.

“One of the factors supporting global equity markets, despite all the headwinds, is the fact that global rates for the most part are staying very low. That is going to continue for the next few quarters,” he said.

InterContinental Hotels rose 3.9 per cent to 1,298p as the owner of the Holiday Inn brand said first-quarter profit rose 28 per cent as travel recovered in the Americas, its biggest market.

Deutsche Post rose 1.3 per cent to €13.66 as it reported that first-quarter earnings before interest and taxes increased 23 per cent.

Rio Tinto climbed 2.4 per cent to 4,235.5p as aluminum, lead and nickel advanced in London.

Three Greek banks were among the five best-performing stocks in the Stoxx 600 yesterday.

Alpha Bank surged 9.3 per cent to €3.76, its largest gain in three months.

Imperial Tobacco rose 3.1 per cent to 2,224p after the company said it will buy back £500 million of shares a year.

Accor surged 3.2 per cent to €30.05 after Cheuvreux upgraded the shares to “outperform” from “underperform”.

Danske Bank retreated 4.5 per cent to 111.70 kroner.

BG slid 1.6 per cent to 1,412.5p as the UK’s third-biggest natural-gas producer said earnings declined 38 per cent because of higher North Sea taxes and charges related to asset sales and long-term contracts.

JCDecaux added 1.1 per cent to €23.41. The world’s second-largest seller of outdoor advertising posted first-quarter revenue of €535.3 million, compared with €487.2 million a year earlier.

TUI Travel gained 1.8 per cent to 248p.

Car makers were among the best performers of the 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600.

Renault climbed 1.4 per cent to €40.84. Bayerische Motoren Werke gained 2.3 per cent to €62.67. – (Bloomberg)