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Europe buoyed by U.S. results
LONDON, England (CNN) -- European markets edged higher Wednesday morning, led by steel and insurance stocks, after upbeat corporate results in the United States sparked a rally on Wall Street in previous session. London's FTSE 100 rose 1.3 percent to 3,969.7 and Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax gained 0.3 percent to 2,969.65, while the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris gained 1.9 percent to 2,969.12. The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down 1.2 percent. Early gains in Europe were supported by a positive start to the first-quarter reporting season in the United States. "Sentiment seems to be more upbeat at the moment but bear in mind much of the improvement in earnings has come from restructuring, as companies take action to deal with lower sales and weaker pricing power," Gert de Mesure, head of equity strategy at Delta Lloyd Securities, told Reuters. Closer to home, steel stocks were lifted by news that Europe's second-largest steel maker Corus Group had appointed Philippe Varin as its new chief executive, replacing Tony Pedder who quit last month. Corus shares were up 1.1 percent to 10.65 pence in early London trading. Leading the insurance sector higher were Aegon, which rose 4.4 percent to 9.71 euros in Amsterdam, and the Aviva, which gained 2.5 percent to 426.7 pence in London, as investors bought back stocks that had been beaten down in recent sessions. Puma, the German sportswear and equipment maker, jumped 4.1 percent to 83.82 euros after it said first-quarter pre-tax profit more than doubled and the group lifted its 2003 earnings forecast as shoppers continued to snap up its sportswear. (Full story) Nestle, the world's largest food group, was flat at 277.50 Swiss francs after reporting a worse-than-expected 7.5 percent drop in first-quarter sales on Wednesday due to the strong Swiss currency. (Full story) The AEX index in Amsterdam and the SMI in Zurich both rose 1.3 percent, while Milan's MIB30 index gained 1 percent. In the U.S. on Tuesday, stocks rallied on positive earnings reports and news that President George W. Bush's was supporting Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan for another term. (Full report) The Dow Jones industrial average rose 156.09 points to 8484.99 and the Nasdaq composite gained 26.99 points to 1451.36, while the S&P 500 index was up 19.36 points to 911.37. Wall Street is expected to open flat later on Wednesday. S&P 500 index futures were up 1.5 points to 911.00 on the Globex trading system, while fair value, a measure that takes account of interest costs and dividend payments, was calculated at 910.15.
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