The UK market is higher in afternoon trading Monday, after the summit of European Union leaders last week served to soothe investor fears. Sentiment was also influenced by some economic data out of Asia.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is climbing 1.18 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. Companies, is adding 1.01 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is climbing 0.60 percent.
Barclays, which was fined 290 million pounds last week for attempting to manipulate the inter-bank lending rate, is gaining 3.4 percent after the lender's chairman Marcus Agius resigned. Lloyds Banking is up 1.6 percent and insurer Aviva is climbing 3.3 percent.
Anglo American and Antofagasta are notably higher. BHP Billiton is up 1.7 percent and Rio Tinto is adding 1.9 percent.
Essar Energy is adding 3.2 percent. The firm agreed to sell a 50 percent stake in an offshore gas exploration block in Vietnam to Italian oil firm Eni SpA.
Heritage Oil is climbing 5.3 percent. The company has agreed to buy certain oil assets in Nigeria for $850 million.
Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and US biopharma firm Theravance Inc. said that four pivotal phase III studies of their investigational combination drug showed statistically significant improvements in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. GlaxoSmithKline shares are modestly up.
Shire is declining 2.9 percent and Smith & Nephew is advancing 1.3 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is adding 1.12 percent and the French CAC 40 is advancing 1.24 percent. Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.56 percent.
In economic news, Eurozone unemployment rate rose to a record 11.1 percent in May from 11 percent in April, matching economists' expectations, Eurostat said.
An indicator measuring the performance of the British manufacturing sector rose more than expected in June, but the index still pointed to a decline in activity rates. A survey by Markit Economics showed that the purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector rose to 48.6 in June from May's three-year low of 45.9. Economists expected an increase to 46.5.
The Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey showed that sentiment for its large manufacturers' index showed a marked improvement in the second quarter, climbing to a score of -1. The headline figure beat expectations for a score of -4, which would have been unchanged from the previous three months.
Across Asia/Pacific, Australia's All Ordinaries added 0.89 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edge up 0.03 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged down 0.04 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a mixed open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks moved sharply higher with much of the strength stemming from a positive reaction to the latest developments in Europe. The Dow jumped 2.2 percent, the Nasdaq soared 3 percent and the S&P 500 surged up 2.5 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for August delivery is losing $1.55 to $83.41 per barrel and August gold is falling $12.8 to $1591.4 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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