By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
Glencore falls after broker downgrade, then turns positive
European stocks pulled out a win Monday, aided by a turnaround
in mining stocks and optimism surrounding a possible financial-aid
deal for cash-strapped Greece.
The Stoxx Europe 600 finished up 0.7% at 399.82
Greece's Athex Composite outperformed, rising 2.1% to 690.24, as
the Greek government appeared closer to cinching a deal for a third
financial bailout following talks with creditors over the weekend
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-steps-closer-to-bailout-deal-as-ecb-deadline-nears-2015-08-10).
"If a deal can be reached [Tuesday], as being touted, it would
be a key economic risk that has been overcome, albeit only for the
foreseeable future," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at
Oanda, in emailed comments.
Overall, "investors are far more concerned now with the [Federal
Reserve] and whether we will see that first rate hike in September.
Today may just be a case of low summer volumes producing oversized
moves in the markets," he wrote.
Read:Fed's Fischer suggests September rate hike not a done deal
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-fischer-suggests-september-rate-hike-not-a-done-deal-2015-08-10)
Miners, sensitive to China's economic developments, received
weak data over the weekend
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-economy-enters-second-half-of-2015-on-weak-note-2015-08-09)
with China saying exports in July fell 8.3% from a year earlier and
imports dropped 8.1%. On Sunday, the government said the
producer-price index marked its biggest year-over-year fall in
nearly six years.
The data were "nothing short of ugly and would indicate that a
7% GDP read is very much elusive," said Brenda Kelly, analyst at
London Capital Group, in a Monday note.
But mining stocks largely managed to turn around by day's end.
Shares of Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) closed up 1%, Antofagasta PLC
(ANTO.LN) gained 0.8% and Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) tacked on 1.8%.
Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN)(GLEN.LN) dropped out of the gate as Investec
cut its rating on the mining heavyweight to sell from buy, but the
stock finished up 1.4%.
The rally by miners helped the FTSE 100
(http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) close higher by
0.3% at 6,736.22.
Chinese stocks also set aside the data and logged their biggest
one-day gain in a month on expectations Beijing will maintain its
support
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinese-stocks-set-for-best-day-in-a-month-2015-08-10)
for the market.
In other moves, Germany's DAX 30 finished up by 1% at 11,604.78,
while France's CAC 40 tacked on 0.8% to 5,195.41.
Follow U.S. market action here
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-climb-dow-on-track-to-break-7-session-losing-run-2015-08-10)