EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Advance As Bank Shares Move Higher Ahead Of Stress Tests

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Stoxx Europe 600 aiming for best month in nine

European stocks pushed higher Friday, with banking shares faring well ahead of the release of stress-test results for the industry, leaving the market to march toward its best monthly performance in nine months.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6% to 341.60, led by strength in the financial sector as bank shares moved up. The Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index rose 2.4%.

Shares of Italian and Spanish banks were advancing. Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (BMPS.MI) shares jumped 6.9% after the embattled bank said it received proposals related to its business (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/monte-dei-paschi-receives-proposal-from-ubs-2016-07-29)from Swiss bank UBS AG , as well as from a prominent former bank executive and government minister in Italy.

Monte dei Paschi's directors are slated on Friday to approve the bank's first-half earnings.

In Madrid, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA shares (BBVA) (BBVA) climbed 4.3% as the lender's decline in second-quarter profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bbva-profit-drops-82-but-beats-forecasts-2016-07-29) was less than had been anticipated by analysts.

Bank executives and investors will look for the results of stress tests for 51 banks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/europe-stress-test-results-to-put-spotlight-on-italys-troubled-banks-2016-07-28) by the European Banking Authority, due late Friday. The tests are aimed at revealing which lenders may need more capital to ride out a potential new economic crisis.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was moving toward a July rise of 3.4%, which would be its largest monthly gain since a nearly 8% rise in October 2015, according to FactSet data. The index was on track for a weekly rise of 0.2%.

Indexes: Spain's IBEX 35 leapt 1.2% to 8,578.20 and Italy's FTSE MIB tacked on 1.6% at 16,792.69.

Germany's DAX 30 rose 0.7% to 10,348.78 and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.2% to 4,427.29. The U.K's FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 6,725.06 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-dips-but-barclays-gains-on-brexit-reassurance-2016-07-29).

The euro was buying $1.1091 compared with $1.1075 late Thursday in New York.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2016 04:53 ET (08:53 GMT)

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