* FTSEurofirst 300 gains 0.9 percent
* Chemical shares advance after results
* Natixis soars, most other banks rise
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - European shares rose on
Wednesday, as a slew of corporate earnings releases encouraged
investors, with chemicals companies among the biggest gainers.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of European top shares
rose 0.9 percent to end the day at 910.67 points, just short of
Monday's eight-month closing high.
"The most important driver is still earnings," said Gerhard
Schwarz, head of global equity strategy at UniCredit, in Munich.
"The question was whether European companies would be able
to match the performance of their U.S. peers, who have been
reporting rock-solid numbers. What we saw today is quite
supportive."
Schwarz pointed to positive market reaction following
results from German companies such as Bayer <BAYG.DE> and
Daimler <DAIGn.DE>.
Chemicals were among the biggest gainers. Bayer and Akzo
Nobel <AKZO.AS> rose 5.4 and 9.8 percent, respectively, after
upbeat results statements. [] []
BASF <BASF.DE> and Solvay <SOLB.BR> rose 2.9 and 1.8
percent, respectively, ahead of releasing their earnings on
Thursday.
The rise for European shares came despite some weak U.S.
economic data. New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured
goods fell more sharply than expected in June, notching their
biggest decline in five months, said the Commerce Department.
[]
Wall Street was lower as European bourses were closing. The
Dow Jones <>, S&P 500 <.SPX> and Nasdaq Composite <>
were down between 0.3 and 0.4 percent.
Germany's DAX <>, up 1.9 percent, was the strongest
performer among the heavyweight European markets. France's
CAC-40 <> and Britain's FTSE 100 <> rose 1 and 0.4
percent, respectively.
The European benchmark index, which slumped 45 percent in
2008, is up more than 41 percent from the lifetime low to which
it sank in early March.
NATIXIS <CNAT.PA> SOARS
French bank Natixis <CNAT.PA> surged 20.1 percent, catching
up with strong gains in the banking sector over the past two
weeks, with traders citing optimism on the new chief executive's
plans for the bank as well as renewed market talk of delisting
of the shares.
Other banks to rise included BBVA <BBVA.MC>, Deutsche Bank
<DBKGn.DE>, HSBC <HSBA.L> and Lloyds <LLOY.L>, up between 0.7
and 3.1 percent.
However, Spain's biggest bank Santander <SAN.MC> fell 1.1
percent after chief executive Alfredo Saenz said he expects
provisions to reach 10 billion euros ($14.15 billion) in 2009.
Provisions for problem loans more than doubled to 4.626
billion euros in the first half from a year ago. []
Insurer Aviva <AV.L> rose 3.3 percent after Deutsche Bank
upgraded it to "buy" from "hold".
Carmaker Daimler rose 4.6 percent after saying it expected a
gradual improvement in the group's operating profitability in
the course of this year as it reported a narrower second-quarter
operating loss than expected. []
Peugeot <PEUP.PA> rose 10.9 percent after it swung to a
first- half loss, but with Morgan Stanley saying the company's
net financial position was "significantly better" than forecast.
Volkswagen <VOWG.DE> fell 5.3 percent, ahead of results on
Thursday.
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal <ISPA.AS> fell 4.4 percent after
announcing a third consecutive net loss, of $792 million, with
further inventory writedowns and provisions for job cuts.
[]
UniCredit's Schwartz added that equities could rally further
as "leading indicators are still positive and valuations are
still low."
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; editing by Karen Foster)
