STOCKS weekly review (01.07 – 05.07.2013) EUROPE

European stocks rose for a second week as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England said interest rates will remain low for an extended period of time.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1.2% to 288.31 last week. European stocks rallied 2.3% on July 4 as ECB President Mario Draghi said that interest rates will remain at their current levels or lower for as long as necessary. In the U.K., the Bank of England signaled that it will leave interest rates at a record low for longer than investors had expected.

National benchmark indexes mostly rose last week. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 2.62% and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.46%. Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX Index slid 1.89%.

Portugal’s PSI 20 Index retreated 2.7% last week as the country’s government lost the leader of its junior coalition partner. Paulo Portas, who leads the CDS party, resigned from his ministerial job on July 2 after Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho appointed Maria Luis Albuquerque as the new minister of finance. Portas said Albuquerque would merely continue the country’s deficit-cutting plans.

Valeo SA advanced 11%. The second-biggest maker of car parts in France said it expects sales in China to double every four years.

Nokia gained 9.1% after it agreed to buy Siemens AG’s share in their joint venture for 1.7 billion euros ($2.2 billion), giving the Finnish company full access to the phone-equipment maker’s cashflow for a less-than-estimated price.

Taylor Wimpey Plc added 7.4%. The U.K.’s second-largest housebuilder by market value reported an operating-profit margin in its domestic market of more than 13% in the first half of the year, compared with 11.2% a year earlier.

Persimmon Plc rose 6.4% after first-half revenue climbed 12%.

Mediaset SpA surged 10%. The broadcaster controlled by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi expects July advertising sales to increase by more than 3%. They have fallen for the last 22 months.

Sky Deutschland AG soared 12% as Berenberg Bank raised its recommendation for the shares of the German pay-TV provider and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added it to its “conviction buy” list.

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