LONDON – Europe’s indexes continued to build on their recent gains in trading this morning. The FTSE 100 in London rose 0.9 percent, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.1 percent, the DAX in Frankfurt rose 1 percent and the FTSE MIB in Milan was up 1.4 percent.
In London, retailer Marks & Spencer was among the FTSE 100’s top-five performers, with its shares up 4.3 percent, following online news speculation that private equity firms could be interested in acquiring some of the retailer’s stock.
Banking shares were also among the risers in London, and similarly BNP Paribas and Societé Generale were among.
The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.3 percent, though the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong finished down 0.7 percent.
Almost all fashion and retail stocks rose: Mulberry was up 2.6 percent, Safilo Group rose 3.3 percent, Tod’s rose 5.2 percent and Hugo Boss was up 2.6 percent.
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But against the background of gains, Germany released lackluster data this morning, showing that its exports fell 1.8 percent in July, compared to the previous month.