* FTSEurofirst 300 share index closes up 0.8 percent
* Strong metals prices support mining shares; oils up
* Cadbury up 1.8 percent in anticipation of a higher bid
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Firmer commodity prices lifted
mining and oil shares on Monday and helped European equities to
a higher close, with investors waiting for a slew of heavyweight
company results this week for near-term direction.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
finished up 0.8 percent at 1,060.53 points. The index, which
rose 26 percent last year, has jumped 64 percent since hitting a
record low in March 2009.
Miners topped the gainers' list, with copper <MCU3> up 1.5
percent, supported by a fall in inventory levels. Aluminium
<MAL3>, nickel <MNI3> and zinc <MZN3> rose 0.2 to 1.3 percent,
while platinum <XPT=> and palladium <XPD=> hit 17-month highs.
BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta
<ANTO.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> and Eurasian
Natural Resources <ENRC.L> rose 0.9 to 3.9 percent.
Investors awaited quarterly results from more U.S. companies
this week, including Bank of America <BAC.N>, Citigroup <C.N>,
Morgan Stanley <MS.N>, Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, IBM <IBM.N>,
General Electric <GE.N> and Google <GOOG.O>.
"The rally that we have seen has not fully run its course
yet," said Klaus Wiener, head of research at Generali
Investments.
"I think that the earnings season on balance should be a
good one. Companies have really built up operational leverage.
This, together with ongoing policy support and hence sound
macro-economic data, should lead the way for corporate assets."
Governments across the world have spent trillions of dollars
to stimulate the global economy, which faced the worst financial
crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny
said the euro zone will not fall back into recession, but added
that the ECB may, at some point, want to copy Fed plans to
squeeze excess cash out of the banking system. []
Trading was subdued as U.S. markets were closed for Martin
Luther King Day. Volumes at the European index were 70 percent
of its 90-day daily average volume.
OILS BOOST ENERGY, CADBURY UP
Energy shares tracked crude <CLc1>, which rose 0.5 percent,
snapping a five-day losing streak as the dollar eased. Royal
Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>, Tullow Oil <TLW.L>,
Repsol <REP.MC> and Total <TOTF.PA> added 0.1 to 2.2 percent.
Drugmakers were also in demand. AstraZeneca <AZN.L>,
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, Novartis <NOVN.VX>, Novo Nordisk
<NOVOb.CO> and Shire <SHP.L> rose 0.1 to 1.9 percent.
Banks were higher ahead of earnings news from U.S. peers.
Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Lloyds <LLOY.L>
and Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> rose 0.6-3.2 percent.
Greek banks, however, slipped on worries the EU may ask for
additional measures to correct the country's fiscal woes. Alpha
Bank <ACBr.AT>, Euroabnk <EFGr.AT> and National Bank <NBGr.AT>
fell 0.1 to 7.7 percent.
Cadbury <CBRY.L> rose 1.8 percent in anticipation of a
higher bid from Kraft Foods <KFT.N>, while one major
shareholder, Standard Life <SL.L>, said Kraft needed to bid over
900 pence to get its support. []
"Cadbury still manages to hold some interest for traders,
with Kraft having just one more day to increase its takeover
bid," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.
"Slight gains were seen for Cadbury but some traders seem to
feel that this has dragged on long enough, making any sort of
deal unlikely," he added.
International Power <IPR.L> fell 3.4 percent after jumping
earlier as it said it was no longer in talk with France's GDF
Suez <GSZ.PA> regarding a combination of their assets.
International Power earlier rose as much as 9.8 percent ,
hitting a 15-month high, boosted by a Sunday Times report that
GDF Suez may make a takeover bid for the British company, while
the Financial Times said the two companies had held discussions
about creating a partnership involving foreign assets.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index <>, Germany's
DAX <> and France's CAC 40 <> rose 0.6-0.7 percent.
(Editing by David Cowell)
