Europe stocks end up as London, New York shut for holidays

Europe's stock markets closed on a positive note on Monday as market watchers said investors focused on profit-taking as both the London and New York markets were closed for holidays. In Frankfurt, the Dax climbed 0.94 percent to reach 8,383.3 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 index of leading shares gained 0.97 percent to 3,995.16 points -- close to the important level of 4,000 points which it breached briefly recently. Milan closed up 1.55 percent at 17,159 points and Madrid finished 1.20 percent higher at 8,363.60 points. Andlil analyst Jerome Vinerier said Monday's trading mood was characterised by a wait-and-see attitude, with "investors wanting to catch their breaths and happy to manage their daily affairs in a market without volume". The euro firmed, still supported by strong data on the German economy on Friday, and was being quoted at $1.2933 from $1.2926 late on Friday. The dollar continued to lose ground against the yen, hitting 101.09 from 101.24 late on Friday. On Wednesday the dollar had reached 103.74 yen, the highest since October 2008. In Frankfurt, Commerzbank shares registered the biggest rise, gaining 4.54 percent to 8.02 euros. The bank, the second-biggest in Germany, which launched a big capital increase a few days ago, has seen its shares fluctuate strongly recently. Shares in software giant SAP rose by 2.06 percent to 59.89 euros. On Friday the group announced the departure of two senior executives. At Barclays Bourse brokers in Paris, Franklin Pichard commented: "After a sudden setback last week, the CAC 40 seems to be trying to rebound." The index had ended last week with a loss of 0.26 percent, the day after leading stock markets had fallen sharply in response to weak data concerning the Chinese economy and renewed uncertainty about the direction of US monetary policy which is currently extremely lax. At Credit Agricole CIB, economists said: "Although the reaction of the markets seemed to be somewhat exaggerated, it should be noted that the difference between growth and the performance stock markets has widened in recent weeks." -- Quiet week -- The price of shares in the Club Med holiday group shot up 22.38 percent to close at 16.95 euros following the announcement of a friendly takeover bid by the company's two biggest shareholders, Chinese group Fosun and AXA PE. Shares in auto group Renault ended up 0.42 percent to reach 59.50 euros. The company played down the effect of the bankruptcy of US-Israeli firm Better Place, a partner with a technology for replacing by robot discharged batteries in electric cars. Shares in advertising group Publicis rose by 1.81 percent to finish at 56.70 euros. On Wednesday the group's general assembly of shareholders will vote on the pay of top executives and will become the first big French quoted company to do so. The Tokyo market slumped 3.22 percent on profit-taking and a stronger yen while comments by President Xi Jinping fuelled concerns about the slowing Chinese economy. The Nikkei 225 index lost 469.80 points to 14,142.65 following a rollercoaster session last week when the benchmark index plunged more than seven percent on Thursday. "Investors' profit-taking movement is continuing as markets in New York and London are closed today, and they might want to watch the currency market," Masahiro Yamaguchi, analyst at Mizuho Securities, told AFP. Japanese stocks were going through an adjustment period, Yamaguchi said. Seoul closed 0.33 percent higher at 1,979.97 points while Sydney dropped 0.47 percent to end at 4,959.9. Hong Kong added 0.30 percent to 22,686.05 while Shanghai rose 0.20 percent to close at 2,293.08, but gains were capped by concerns over the domestic economy. In London, IG chief market strategist Chris Weston said: "This whole week looks quite quiet and that is certainly needed after last week and before next week's raft of key event risk culminating in the anticipated US payrolls report."