By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets were mostly
higher on Monday, with the benchmark index on track for an eighth
straight day of gains, as regional majors such as Akzo Nobel NV and
Royal Philips NV rallied after upbeat earnings reports.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.1% to 318.65, building on a
0.8% gain from Friday.
Shares of Akzo Nobel (AKZOY) jumped 7% after the paints and
coatings firm said it returned to profit in the third quarter.
Royal Philips (PHG) climbed 6.1% after the electronics giant
said net profit more than doubled in the third quarter, mainly due
to lower operating costs.
On a more downbeat note, luxury-goods firms Hugo Boss AG , TOD's
SpA and Luxottica Group SpA all dropped more than 2% after Goldman
Sachs cut the companies to neutral from sell.
Apart from earnings releases in Europe, investors awaited a
report on existing home sales in the U.S. to gauge if the country's
housing market remains in recovery mode. Later in the week, a
flurry of data releases from the U.S. are due, after they were
delayed by the government shutdown that ended last week. On
Tuesday, the much-anticipated nonfarm-payrolls report from
September will come out, along with the unemployment rate.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall
Street on Monday.
In Europe, Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.1% to 8,853.14,
retreating from an all-time high reached on Friday.
France's CAC 40 index lost 0.2% to 4,279.63, while the U.K.'s
FTSE 100 index was up 0.1% at 6,625.98.
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