By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks rose Wednesday, with
auto shares including Volkswagen AG revving up, helping the
regional market drive to a win after two losing sessions.
The Stoxx Europe 600 closed up 0.4% at 335.16, with shares of
Wirecard AG surging 5.8% after the payment-processing firm said it
would propose at its annual meeting a dividend payment of 0.12
euros a share (17 cents), up from 0.11 euros last year.
Industry-wise, oil shares followed oil futures higher, led by 1.2%
rise in BP PLC and a 0.7% increase for Total SA .
Bank stocks also pulled higher, including a 1.3% rise in
heavyweight HSBC PLC after two days of declines, and a 2.8% bounce
for Standard Chartered PLC .
The Stoxx 600 index on Tuesday gave up 0.3% as investors focused
on concerns about valuations throughout global markets, and as
tensions between Ukraine and Russia appeared to escalate.
After the close of European trade Wednesday, investors were to
assess minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting in March,
looking for any clues about what may be the central bank's next
move.
Wednesday's session saw shares of Volkswagen AG and Ryanair
Holdings among the strongest advancers following ratings upgrades
for the auto maker and the air carrier. Ryanair shares were lifted
3.4% after an upgrade to overweight from equal weight at Barclays,
which said it expects the company "will positively surprise on
pricing, load factor and ancillaries this summer; we also expect a
bounce-back in fares next winter."
Volkswagen AG rose 4.3% as Bernstein moved its rating up to
outperform from market-perform. But BMW AG was downgraded by
Bernstein to market-perform from outperform. "Having been BMW bulls
for a number of years," and "notoriously cautious" on Volkswagen,
Bernstein said it's time it changed recommendations in part as
expectations for VW have moderated.
BMW's stock isn't expensive, said Bernstein. "However, much as
we admire BMW, we believe in future years it may find growth harder
to deliver as its products saturate every niche in the premium
segment, as competition intensifies and as FX pressures build once
hedges expire."
BMW on Wednesday reported it had its strongest-ever month in
March, as sales in China surged and European car markets recover.
BMW shares edged down 0.1%.
But preferred shares of Porsche Automobil Holding climbed 4.4%
after Bernstein raised its rating to outperform from
market-perform, saying the upgrade was in line with its higher
price target of 100 euros ($137.88) on Porsche, up from EUR75.
Shares of Renault SA and Daimler AG notched gains as well,
rising 3.9% and 0.8%, respectively, while Fiat SpA rose 1.9%.
Volkswagen was the best-performing stock on the German DAX 30 as
the gauge rose 0.2% to 9,506.35.
Data out on Wednesday showed German exports fell 1.3%
month-on-month in February, a reading weaker than expected. Imports
were up 0.4%, on a seasonally adjusted basis, Germany's statistics
office said.
France's CAC 40 settled 0.4% higher at 4,442.68. Investors will
watch for developments related to a pledge by France's new prime
minister, Manuel Valls, to cut corporate and household taxes by
more than EUR11 billion over the next three years.
Meanwhile, in the U.K., the trade deficit narrowed to GBP2.1
billion ($3.5 billion) in February as both exports and imports
dropped, the Office for National Statistics reported.
The FTSE 100 picked up 0.7% to 6,635.61, with shares of
Kingfisher PLC and IMI PLC higher after ratings upgrades for the
home-improvement retailer and the engineering company.
Elsewhere in Europe, a long-term bond sale was set to usher
Greece back into the international capital markets for the first
time since its exile in 2010.
More news from MarketWatch:
Audi, FAW to launch plug-in hybrid sedan in China
Asia Markets live blog: Yen rise pressures Japanese stocks
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires