Advertisement
UK markets close in 3 hours 40 minutes

  • FTSE 100

    8,051.72
    +27.85 (+0.35%)
     

  • FTSE 250

    19,716.75
    +117.36 (+0.60%)
     

  • AIM

    753.45
    +4.27 (+0.57%)
     

  • GBP/EUR

    1.1604
    +0.0015 (+0.13%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.2388
    +0.0038 (+0.30%)
     

  • Bitcoin GBP

    53,290.52
    +100.82 (+0.19%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,420.51
    +5.75 (+0.41%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,010.60
    +43.37 (+0.87%)
     

  • DOW

    38,239.98
    +253.58 (+0.67%)
     

  • CRUDE OIL

    81.37
    -0.53 (-0.65%)
     

  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,315.90
    -30.50 (-1.30%)
     

  • NIKKEI 225

    37,552.16
    +113.55 (+0.30%)
     

  • HANG SENG

    16,828.93
    +317.24 (+1.92%)
     

  • DAX

    18,043.08
    +182.28 (+1.02%)
     

  • CAC 40

    8,085.56
    +45.20 (+0.56%)
     
Money:

What is the true cost of the UK state pension?

To get a sense of the true value of the state pension, you can look at how much you would need to save to match it yourself

European shares get earnings lift, Greece lags

Reuters - UK Focus

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.5 pct

* Publicis (Paris: FR0000130577 - news) , Actelion (Xetra: 936767 - news) , Sky (Other OTC: BSYBF - news) , ARM rally after results

* Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS - news) shares fall, brokers cite capital concerns

* Worries about ECB funding hit shares in Athens

* Additional inflows on horizon from investors - fund

By Lionel Laurent and Francesco Canepa

LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Positive company earnings updates pushed European shares higher on Tuesday, with the Greek stock market a standout loser as worries mounted about its banking sector.

Publicis, Sky and ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) closed between 3.9 and 6.2 percent higher after results.

ADVERTISEMENT

European companies are heading for their best earnings season in four years, sharply outperforming U.S. counterparts on the back of a weak euro and improving economic conditions, driven by the European Central Bank's bond-buying stimulus plan.

"We will see a further run-up in markets ... We are seeing additional inflows from institutional clients," Union Investment portfolio manager Ingo Speich said.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed up 0.5 percent at 1,628.64 points, near multi-year peaks but having pared session gains as concerns about Greece capped sentiment.

The Athens ATG index fell 3.3 percent to its lowest since September 2012 after a Bloomberg report suggested the ECB had prepared a proposal to increase the haircut on the security that Greek banks offer in return for emergency liquidity.

The Greek banking index fell 3.8 percent.

Elsewhere, shares in Credit Suisse dropped 2.1 percent despite better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. While the stock has gained some 44 percent since mid-January, some brokers raised concerns over the bank's capital strength.

"The issue today will be capital for a bank where concerns linger," Jefferies analyst, Omar Fall, said.

A weak euro helped advertising group Publicis report forecast-beating organic sales growth in the first quarter, while Actelion, Europe's biggest biotech firm, raised its full-year guidance after strong sales of its new heart and lung drug helped profits beat expectations.

Associated British Foods (LSE: ABF.L - news) , however, fell 5.3 percent after it lowering its full-year earnings guidance on currency concerns, sending its shares down more than 2 percent.

The two German listings of U.S. drugs group Mylan (Berlin: 6MY.BE - news) rose 9.4 percent and 6.4 percent respectively after it received a takeover offer from Teva.

Europe bourses in 2015: http://link.reuters.com/pap87v

Asset performance in 2015: http://link.reuters.com/gap87v

Today's European research round-up (Editing by Louise Ireland)