FTSE Eurofirst 300 strong in banking

In Europe on Wednesday, shares in the banking and automobile manufacturing sectors did very well, helping the FTSE Eurofirst 300 to a winning day.

Banks did well on positive first quarter reports. Anglo Irish Bank rose 5.6 percent to €9.48. Europe’s ninth-largest bank, Credit Suisse, gained 2 percent to SFr51.30, while Germany’s second-largest bank, HVB Group, advanced 1 percent to €18.65. Bank Austria, Austria’s largest bank, was up 0.6 percent to €72.75.

Much of the movement in the automobile manufacturing sector came after Tracinda Corp, U.S. investor Kirk Kerkorian’s company, offered to pay cash for as many as 28 million shares of General Motors stock to shore up its operation. Speculation was that European automobile manufacturers might also come into the equation.

Fiat gained 5.2 percent to €5.41, DaimlerChrysler was up 2.7 percent to €31.38, Volkswagen rose 1.6 percent to €32.93, and Peugeot advanced 1.2 percent to €46.31.

Not all the news was good in the automobile-related sector, however, as shares in the German tire maker Continental declined 6.1 percent to €55.21 after a first quarter earnings report that came in below expectations. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.6 percent to 1,075.03 on Wednesday.

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