EUROPE MARKETS: French Stocks Rise Ahead Of European Peers Despite Election Risk
April 20 2017 - 9:26AM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Publicis, Pernod lead advance on CAC after earnings releases
French stocks rose Thursday, performing better than broader
European equities, as gains for Publicis Groupe SA and Pernod
Ricard SA helped relieve pressure from concerns over the outcome of
Sunday's presidential election vote.
In Paris, the CAC 40 moved up 0.8% to 5,043.71. That was better
than the Stoxx Europe 600 , which trudged up 0.1% and has been
slipping between small gains and losses. The pan-European index was
held back by losses in the commodity sector, but consumer goods and
financial shares were rising.
France factor: Investors were sifting through a new batch of
earnings reports Thursday. Publicis (PUB.FR) was among the top
share-price performers on the back of its financial results. Shares
popped up 2.3%, on track for their best session since December,
after the advertising heavyweight posted a smaller-than-expected
decline in first-quarter sales
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/publicis-dragged-down-by-loss-of-us-accounts-2017-04-20-14854420).
At the same time, shares of French spirits group Pernod Ricard
(RI.FR) climbed 1.6%. The producer of Absolut vodka and Martell
cognac posted a 1% rise in third-quarter underlying sales.
The CAC 40 leapt as much as 1.1% intraday following a Harris
Interactive poll that showed centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron
with 25% support among respondents ahead of the first round of
voting in France's presidential election. That's slightly higher
than 22% for far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen, who
has called for France to ditch the euro and its membership in the
European Union.
The euro also climbed, hitting a three-week high of $1.0778
before paring the gain to $1.0746.
A win for the CAC 40 on Thursday would be its second in a row,
coming after five straight sessions of losses.
Read:When are the French election results out on Sunday?
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-are-the-french-election-results-out-on-sunday-2017-04-20)
French stocks have been under pressure on worries about the
outcome of Sunday's vote. Polling suggests a tight contest between
the four main candidates, raising worries the final two contenders
going through to the second round of voting could be two
euroskeptics: far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon and far-right
candidate Marine Le Pen.
"[With] four candidates polling around 20%, there is every
reason for caution," said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX
Capital, in a note.
"We're looking at contingency plans in the event of a Le
Pen-Melenchon runoff as this would spark a big selloff in the euro
and French government bonds, as well as bank stocks," he wrote.
Read: Here's how France's hotly contested election could spark
market turmoil
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-frances-hotly-contested-election-could-spark-market-turmoil-2017-04-19)
Stock movers: Unilever (ULVR.LN) (ULVR.LN) shares picked up 1.2%
after the Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream maker reported
a rise in underlying sales for the first quarter
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/unilever-sales-rise-but-lag-in-europe-us-2017-04-20).
Meanwhile, Kit Kat chocolate maker Nestlé SA (NESN.EB) said
first-quarter revenue was largely flat from a year earlier. Shares
traded higher by 0.4%.
The reports from the consumer-products heavyweights highlighted
reliance on emerging markets for growth in the face of softer
spending in the U.S. and Western Europe. See:Unilever, Nestlé
struggle with cautious consumers
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/unilever-nestle-struggle-with-cautious-consumers-2017-04-20)
Man Group PLC (EMG.LN) leapt 6.6% to the top of the Stoxx 600 as
the investment manager said quarterly funds under management rose
10%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/man-group-posts-10-rise-in-funds-under-management-2017-04-20)
on strong fund inflows and a weaker dollar.
BMW AG (BMW.XE) said pretax profit in the first three months of
the year rose about 27%, beating market expectations, but shares
were off 0.4%. The better-than-expected result stemmed from
"valuation effects," the luxury car maker said.
Indexes: In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 was down fractionally at
12,011.93, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 7,107.06
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/unilever-shares-push-ftse-toward-first-win-in-5-days-2017-04-20).
Read:Why the snap U.K. election is a 'game-changer' for the
pound
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-the-pound-surged-to-10-week-high-after-may-called-snap-uk-election-2017-04-18)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 20, 2017 09:11 ET (13:11 GMT)
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