European shares edged up in early trade on Monday, recovering ground lost on Friday, with pharmaceutical stocks gaining in subdued trading as key markets remain closed.

At 0838 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.3 percent at 1,000.88 points, after falling 0.3 percent on Friday. The benchmark is on course to fall 5.8 percent in May, its biggest fall since February 2009, as the euro zone's debt crisis persisted.

Trading was moderate as the London Stock Exchange remained closed for a holiday. Wall Street will also remain closed for a national holiday.

Pharmaceutical stocks were among the strongest performers. Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), Novartis (NOVN.VX) and Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) rose between 0.3 and 1.2 percent.

Novo Nordisk, the world's biggest producer of insulin, has refused to comply with the Greek government's order to pharmaceutical companies to cut their prices by a quarter.

After European bourses closed on Friday, Fitch downgraded Spain's credit rating, pulling Wall Street lower.

"It's just a reminder that the euro zone crisis hasn't gone away. It's still lurking," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin.

"It's been priced into the market for a while now. There is a sense that global markets might have done their worst."

The two biggest Spanish banks, Banco Santander (SAN.MC) and BBVA (BBVA.MC), fell 0.9 and 1.2 percent, respectively.

The Spanish savings banking system faces further restructuring, following the recent nationalisation of CajaSur.

France admitted on Sunday that keeping its top-notch credit rating would be a stretch without some tough budget decisions, following German hints that Berlin may resort to raising taxes to help bring down its deficit.

Across Europe, Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC40 .FCHI rose and 0.3 and 0.1 percent, respectively

Spain's IBEX 35 .IBEX fell 0.7 percent.

Turkish stocks fell 2 percent after at least 10 people were killed on Monday when the Israeli navy intercepted a convoy of aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip, some of the which were flying Turkish flags. [ID:nLDE64U02G]

BP FALLS IN FRANKFURT

BP (BP.F) fell 5 percent in Frankfurt after its latest attempts to plug an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico failed.

The index heavyweight's London-listed shares, already down more than 23 percent from a mid-April peak, are set to fall further when trading resumes on Tuesday.

However, other oil shares were mixed, as crude prices rose above $74, helped by the euro edging up against the dollar.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.AS) rose 0.6 percent; Total (TOTF.PA) was down 0.4 percent.

Raiffeisen International (RIBH.VI), emerging Europe's second-biggest lender, rose 0.3 percent after setting the stage for its planned merger with parent RZB with a first-quarter earnings beat, helped by low risk charges.

Comments

Search RSS

All rights reserved."