London - European shares kicked off the
first trading day of May with gains underpinned by healthy
corporate earnings.
Financials and energy stocks provided the biggest boost to
the pan-European STOXX 600 which was up 0.1 percent.
French bluechips held near decade highs while Germany's
DAX hovered near a record.
Across Europe, 31 percent of companies had reported results,
and 74 percent beat analysts' estimates while 18 percent missed,
according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
British oil major BP gained 2.9 percent after its
first-quarter profits tripled, thanks to higher oil prices and
production.
It fueled a 0.5 percent rise in Europe's oil and gas sector
index, which handily outperformed other sectors. Banks
were up 0.3 percent.
Fund manager Aberdeen gained 2.9 percent after its
first-half results added to signs of fight back from active fund
managers against the passive tracker funds eroding their market
share.
The pace of outflows from Aberdeen's funds slowed slightly
and revenues rose 10.6 percent thanks to market gains and cost
cuts.
Read also: Miners, earnings support European shares
Shares in online food delivery company Ocado jumped
up to 8.9 percent. Traders cited a report of a delivery tie-up
with supermarket M&S. Ocado's shares are among the
most-heavily shorted in the UK.
Among fallers, Swedish polymer producer Hexpol
dropped 7.6 percent after broker Kepler Cheuvreux cut the stock
to 'hold' from 'buy', saying that after a recent rally the
company's shares now reflected expected growth.
Airport retailer Dufry slipped 5 percent after its
results. The company reported first-quarter organic growth of
7.2 percent, but traders cited weaker than expected earnings and
cash flow.
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by Vikram Subhedar)