CAPIS Capital Institutional Services : EU Close – 1/25/17

European bourses ended Wednesday broadly higher with the Stoxx600 +1.29% ending just off day's highs. All but three sectors were in positive territory with Banks +3.01% and Insurance +2.46% leading while 9 others added north of 1 percent. Crude prices briefly turned positive after spending most of the session lower following EIA data showing a build in crude inventories: WTI -.15% and Brent -.22%. Volumes were 18.4% higher than 5-day average.

WH Smith +7.03% share surged higher following the co. saying they are ahead of expectations with LFL sales up 1% for the past 21 weeks. They've seen 5% growth in travel business. The co. also said they've secured a 5Y revolved credit working capital of £140m from 4 banks.

Antofagasta +4.07% saw copper production rise to 709,400 tons which is 14% rise QoQ and 13% rise YoY. Gold Output was up 30% QoQ. Investors sent shares higher.

Peugeot +.57% has signed a joint venture deal with CK Birla in India to manufacturing vehicles and powertrains in India to be sold in country. The initial investment will be €100m.

OMV +2.76% gained ground after signing a memorandum of understanding with Dana Energy for development projects in Iran.

ABB +2.80% said it booked $842m worth of power grid orders in December including a $27m order from the Philippines. The co. was also upgraded to outperform at RBC with CHF25 price target.

Names from this morning: Logitech +15.54%, Novartis +2.44%, Banco Santander +4.03%, Intesa Sanpaolo +.35%, Generali +.97%, Deutsche Bank +4.83%.

Eco Thursday: US Wholesale Inventories, US Initial Jobless Claims, US New Home Sales, China Industrial Profits, Singapore Unemployment, Hong Kong Imports/Exports, Spain Unemployment, Sweden Unemployment, Sweden PPI, Italy Retail Sales, UK GDP, and more…

Please Note: Australia will be closed on the 26th for Australia Day.