European stocks rose, paced by energy companies including Total SA, as the price of Brent crude climbed to a two-week high on concern about disruptions to oil supplies. BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, gained as copper prices rose on the prospect of strikes in Chile and the U.S. Brent crude oil futures advanced after an attack on an Iraqi pipeline cut exports by more than a third from the country, the world's No. 3 holder of oil reserves. Strike threats at copper mines helped the metal gain 1.1 percent last week, an increase that may boost earnings at mining companies.
``As long as commodity prices keep rising, it will be good for energy and mining stocks,'' said David Manso, part of a team that manages about $2.5 billion at Gesatlantico SA in Madrid. ``Energy shares appear undervalued relative to earnings outlook.'' The Stoxx 50 added 0.4 percent to 2672.23 as of 10:17 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 600 gained 0.3 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50, a benchmark for the 12 countries sharing the euro, rose 0.3 percent. Total, Europe's biggest oil refiner, gained 0.7 percent to 158.2 euros. BHP Billiton added 0.7 percent to 481.5 pence. The energy and basic resources groups were the second and third biggest gainers on the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index, each adding 0.7 percent. In Western Europe, national benchmarks rose in 12 of 17 markets. Germany's DAX Index added 0.2 percent, France's CAC 40 Index advanced 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index gained 0.3 percent.
Shell Transport & Trading Co., which has a 40 percent stake in Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe's second-largest oil company, gained 0.3 percent to 402 pence. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., which owns the rest, added 0.4 percent to 42.11 euros. Cairn Energy Plc, a U.K. company that explores for oil and gas in India and Bangladesh, climbed 2.4 percent to 1,454 pence. The company said mid-afternoon on Friday in London that it raised 102.9 million pounds ($188 million) in a share sale to fund exploration and drilling in Rajasthan.
Jarvis, Wembley
Jarvis Plc, the U.K. engineering company that's said profit will fall after it exited rail maintenance, slumped 36 percent to 22.25 pence, extending its decline of 56 percent on Friday, when the company said it may take charges and write-offs. Wembley Plc, a U.K. owner of dog tracks, plunged 31 percent to 585 pence after Starwood Capital Group LLC and Kerzner International Ltd. abandoned plans to buy the company. Meggitt Plc, a U.K. maker of combat jets and target drones, fell 2.3 percent to 256.5 pence. Meggitt and U.S. buyout firm Carlyle Group agreed to buy Dunlop Standard Aerospace Group Ltd. for about 784 million pounds in a transaction that will split up the company. STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's biggest chipmaker, advanced 0.2 percent to 17.56 euros. The Semiconductor Industry Association's report Friday that global chip sales increased 37 percent in May compared with May 2003 ``confirm the positive trend,'' analysts at ETC Pollak Prebon wrote in a note today. ``The high point in the cycle hasn't yet been reached,'' the analysts said. Bovis Homes Group Plc, a U.K. homebuilder, climbed 1.1 percent to 535 pence after saying the average selling price of a Bovis home has risen by 8 percent from a year earlier. ///www.bloomberg.com