Europe : Shares edge up, helped by chemical and insurance firms
LONDON : European shares edged higher on Thursday, remaining within a recent range but receiving a boost from rises in chemical and insurance firms.
The STOXX Europe 600 index was up 0.3 percent by 0818 GMT, bouncing back from a slight dip on Wednesday but below Tuesday’s high for the week.
The session was expected to remain quiet, with Wall Street shut for its Thanksgiving holiday.
Chemical firms were the top sectoral gainers, up 0.7 percent, led up by a 1.6 percent rise for Arkema after UBS raised its target price on the stock.
Top STOXX 600 riser was insurer Direct Line, up 3.5 percent, after it was upgraded to “overweight” from “equal-weight” by Morgan Stanley. In all, insurers were up 0.5 percent.
Domino’s Pizza rose 2.4 percent after it said it would step up its expansion plans after seeing a strong performance from new outlets and a positive market outlook.
