European shares led higher by miners, but HSBC falls

[MILAN] European shares were higher in early trading on Monday following gains in Asia, and helped by a recovery in the prices of crude oil and other commodities.

By 0815 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 1.3 per cent.

Nevertheless, in spite of the rise which comes on top of gains made last week, the index remains down nearly 10 per cent since the start of 2016, due to concerns about a slowdown in the global economy which also impacted HSBC.

Miners were the top sectoral gainer, up 2.3 per cent, after copper rose to its highest level in over two weeks as an uptick in China's beleaguered steel industry sparked hope for a revival in metals demand.

Shares in Rio Tinto, Glencore and BHP Billiton were all up by more than 3 per cent.

But HSBC fell 3.8 per cent after Europe's biggest bank reported a surprise pre-tax loss of US$858 million and predicted a 'bumpier' financial environment ahead.

REUTERS