European Equity Market Update

European equities opened lower this morning but have traded into positive territory, currently up 1.1 percent. European finance ministers are due to hold a conference call at 3:30pm CET to discuss additional funding through the IMF to the value of 200 Bln Euros. ECB president Mario Draghi told the Financial Times that the bank cannot overstep its mandate by increasing bond purchases in response to high borrowing costs for sovereigns.
Volumes in Europe have been light so far today, 23 percent less that the 20 day average and 41 percent lower than the 100 day average.


Sector wise; All sectors are higher, with the exception of Energy and Basic Resources, Autos and Banks leading, gaining 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent.

Energy stocks have fallen as the death of Kim Jong-Il has raised concerns over growth, both Tullow Oil and Royal Dutch Shell trading down 1 percent. Yell group has had strong support increasing by 9.5 percent after it won lender approval for a covenant reset. HMV lost 8 percent following worse than expected H1 underlying pretax losses of GBP 36.4m. Ocado also lost more than 8 percent after forecasting full year EBITDA lower than analysts expected. Nokia has fallen 1.4 percent after disappointing sales figures were printed from its new flagship Microsoft Windows based phone.