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Banks lift European markets
LONDON, England (CNN) -- European markets rose on Friday morning as investors welcomed signs of improving profits in the financial sector and awaited a key address on Iraq by the United Nations chief weapons. London's FTSE 100 was up 1.2 percent to 3,654.4, Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax rose 2 percent to 2,605.52 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris added 1.1 percent to 2,789.18. The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up 1.3 percent. Investors are awaiting a crucial meeting of the United Nations Security Council later on Friday, which will be addressed by the UN's chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, and nuclear agency head Mohamed ElBaradei. The briefing comes after experts found a missile in Iraq that exceeds the range allowed by the U.N. and amid broadening divisions over how to deal with Iraq.
"The content of Hans Blixs' address to the UN will rule the day," David Buik at Cantor Index told Reuters. Investors found reason to cheer results from two of Europe's biggest banks. The UK's Lloyds TSB (LLOY) rose 2.8 percent to 443.50 pence after it raised its final dividend by 1.5 percent, despite reporting an 18 percent fall in annual profits amid a tough market environment. (Full story) French bank Credit Lyonnais (PCL), which plans to merge into rival Credit Agricole, was up 0.5 percent to 53.80 euros after it also proposed a dividend increase and said quarterly profits more than tripled on fewer bad loans. (Full story) Satellite TV giant BSkyB (BSY) showed it was still top dog amongst British pay-TV operators on Friday by beating forecasts for first-half profits and netting nearly a quarter of a million new customers in the second quarter. (Full story) The AEX index in Amsterdam was up 2.1 percent, Milan's MIB30 index dropped 0.9 percent and the SMI in Zurich added 1.8 percent. In the U.S. on Thursday, fears of a possible war with Iraq and threats of terrorism against Americans led stocks to their third straight day of declines. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 8.30 points to 7749.87 and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.53 points to 1277.44, while the S&P 500 index eased 1.31 points to 817.37. Wall Street is expected to open slightly higher later on Friday. S&P 500 index futures are up 0.7 points to 818.30 on the Globex trading system, while fair value -- a measure that takes account of interest costs and dividend payments -- is calculated at 816.84.
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