European Stocks on retailers and miners (Bloomberg) (27-03-2008)

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced, as performance by banks, insurers and mining companies, improved with higher earnings and improved forecasts. Among retailers, Hennes & Mauritz AB rose sharply on better than expected first-quarter profit. Insurer Swiss Life Holding rallied after posting record profit, and Man Group Plc gained after the hedge fund manager said earnings will top predictions.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 1.4 percent to 308.74 as of 10:53 a.m. in London as all 18 industry groups gained except for technology. The index has lost 15 percent this year after credit losses and mortgage writedowns for banks worldwide reached more than $208 billion.

National benchmark indexes rallied in all 17 western European markets that were open. The U.K.'s FTSE 100, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX all rose 1.2 percent.

Swiss Life climbed 6.5 percent to 266.5 francs on the sale of its Belgian and Dutch units and the Banca del Gottardo private bank. 

Man Group gained 3.2 percent to 563 pence after the world's biggest publicly traded hedge fund manager said annual earnings will exceed analysts' estimates, helped by rising performance fees.

Opap SA surged 9.5 percent to 21.90 euros. Europe's third- biggest publicly traded gaming company reported fourth-quarter profit that surpassed analysts' estimates. Net income climbed 13 percent to 174 million euros.

Public Power Corp. increased 8 percent to 26.90 euros. Greece's biggest electricity producer said profit surged 10-fold last year after it sold a stake in a telephone company.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company, gained 2.1 percent to 1,480 pence. Rio Tinto Group, the third- largest, climbed 2.1 percent to 5,157 pence.

 Source: Bloomberg