(RTTNews) - The European markets rose for the first time in four days on Friday, as heavily weighted energy stocks rallied after crude oil prices advanced for the first time this week and Pernod Ricard reported first-half profit that beat analysts’ estimates.

The markets also benefited earlier in the session from yesterday’s news that the Obama administration was creating a plan to subsidise mortgage payments for troubled homeowners.

In economic news, U.S. consumer sentiment in February has deteriorated by even more than economists had been anticipating, a private report showed today. The Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers said its index fell to a reading of 56.2 in February from a reading of 61.2 in January. Economists had been expecting a more modest decrease by the index to a reading of about 60.2.

The Eurozone economy shrank in the fourth quarter at the fastest pace since records began in 1995. According to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the Eurozone GDP contracted 1.5% sequentially in the fourth quarter, larger than the 0.2% decline seen in the second and third quarters of 2008. Economists were expecting a sequential fall of 1.3%. The weaker data strengthened expectations of further rate cuts from the European Central Bank to support the sinking economy.

Crude for March delivery rose $1.54 to $35.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, by the time the European markets closed, on speculation governments will widen efforts to help consumers weather a deepening recession.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 0.61% higher at 796.50 points, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index rose 0.24% to 1,966.27 points.

Around Europe, France’s CAC 40 index climbed 1.13% to 2,997.86 and Germany’s DAX index rose 0.13% to 4,413.39, while the U.K.’s FTSE 10 index fell 0.30% to 4,189.59.

Royal/Dutch Shell, Europe’s second biggest oil company, rose 1.3%, while Total, the third biggest, climbed 1.5% and StatoilHydro, Norway’s largest oil and gas company, surged up 3.5%.

Pernod Ricard, the world’s second largest liquor maker, rallied 6% after the company said its first-half profit excluding acquisitions rose to 685 million euros, topping the median estimate.

Metro, Germany’s biggest retailer, climbed 3.9% after it sold its fashion store unit Adler to private equity fund BluO.
On the other hand, Lloyds Banking Group, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, tumbled 32.5% after the company warned that its HBOS division would suffer a 2008 pre-tax loss of about �10 billion because of the credit crunch.

The news dragged the shares of other British banks and eventually the FTSE 100 index lower. Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain’s second largest bank, dropped 9.2% and Barclays, the second largest, slipped 4.3%.

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Posted in Categories: Eurozone, Releases, Stocks, UK, USA.

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