European stocks advanced, led by automakers including Renault SA and technology companies such as Nokia Oyj, after business and consumer confidence in France rose, boosting optimism about corporate profit growth. ``The economic data we are getting may give a breather to stock markets and underpin gains,'' said Juan Maria Soler, who helps manage about $2.6 billion at Sabadell Banca Privada in Barcelona, Spain. ``We are adding some equities to portfolios ahead of possible advances.'' He didn't specify which stocks he is buying. Companies and consumers in France, Europe's third-largest economy, became more optimistic in September, buoyed by rising exports and house prices. French consumers spent more in the first half of the year, helping the economy grow a revised 0.7 percent in the second quarter, a government report showed.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index added 0.4 percent to 2700.30 as of 10:22 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 600 gained 0.3 percent, with 13 of the 18 industry groups rising. The Euro Stoxx 50, a benchmark for the 12 countries using the euro, advanced 0.7 percent. Renault, France's second-largest carmaker, gained 1.1 percent to 67.05 euros. Nokia, the world's biggest handset maker, rose 2 percent to 11.28 euros, as technology shares led gains among the 18 industry groups on the Stoxx 600.
Benchmarks Rise
Benchmark indexes increased in 13 of the 17 markets in Western Europe that were open. France's CAC 40 Index gained 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX Index advanced 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index added 0.3 percent. Iceland's market opens at 11 a.m. September futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.6 percent. An index based on a survey of about 2,500 companies in France rose to 106, the highest since April 2001, Paris-based Insee statistics office said. No survey was conducted in August. Economists expected a reading of 105, according to the median of 25 forecasts. A consumer confidence index based on a survey of 2,000 people rose to minus 17 from a reading of minus 23 in July, Insee said in a separate report. It was the first rise in four months. The figure exceeded the minus 22 median forecast of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg and was the highest since January 2003. The Stoxx 600 has gained 2.8 percent this month, the biggest advance since February. The Euro Stoxx 50 has added 2.5 percent and the Stoxx 50 has advanced 3.5 percent in the same period. That would be the first gain for the month of September since 1997 for all three benchmarks. ``The sell-off you quite often see in September happened earlier this year,'' said Jeffrey Currington, a fund manager at HSBC Asset Management, which oversees the equivalent of $5.4 billion.
Quarterly Decline
The Stoxx 600 has lost 0.3 percent so far this quarter, its biggest decline since the first three months of 2003. The Euro Stoxx 50 has shed 1.7 percent this quarter, also the biggest slide in seven. The Stoxx 50 has so far gained less 0.5 percent in the quarter than ends at the close of trading today. ICAP Plc, the world's largest interbank brokerage, jumped 7.4 percent to 223.75 pence after saying it's ``on track'' to post a fiscal-year profit matching analysts' estimates. The shares dropped 6,75 pence, or 3.1 percent, to 208.25 pence. TUI AG, Europe's largest travel company, advanced 1 percent to 15.11 euros after saying it will reorganize its U.K. units and plans to cut 8 percent of staff in the country. The company said the changes won't affect earnings at its tourism unit. MMO2, Britain's fourth-largest mobile-phone company, added 2.9 percent to 98.5 pence after it lifted its fiscal-year target for U.K. sales growth for the second time in three months after mobile-phone customer additions beat the company's expectations. The company said it expects U.K. service-revenue growth for the year through March of between 9 percent and 12 percent. The previous forecast was for as much as 10 percent.
Lafayette, Boots
Galeries Lafayette SA, France's largest department-store operator, advanced 1.2 percent to 156.90 euros. The retailer said net income climbed 26 percent from the year-earlier period to 27.6 million euros ($34 million) in the first half as a new home- design outlet attracted shoppers and tourists returned to its Paris locations. Boots Group Plc, the U.K.'s largest pharmacy chain, fell 2.6 percent to 644.5 pence after it said profitability waned in the fiscal first-half. The company said it extended a price-cutting campaign to compete with supermarkets such as Tesco Plc and Wal- Mart Stores Inc.'s Asda.
Ahold, Publicis Royal Ahold NV, the world's third-largest retailer, rose 1.4 percent to 5.25 euros. The company agreed to pay 8 million euros ($10 million) to settle an investigation by Dutch prosecutors after admitting it committed offenses including accounting fraud. Publicis Groupe SA, rose 1.8 percent to 23.46 euros. The world's fourth-largest advertising and marketing company enters France's CAC 40 at the close of trading. U.S. gross domestic product, the total of goods and services generated by the world's largest economy, expanded at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June period, the Commerce Department said yesterday in Washington. That compares with 2.8 percent estimated last month. ``Better-than-expected numbers out of the U.S. sets a stabilizing element to the market that we've not seen for a while,'' said Rob Sellar, a fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management in London, which oversees the equivalent of $3.6 billion. ///www.bloomberg.com