European Stocks Rise as Greece Backs Down From Writedown Request

by Namitha Jagadeesh

  

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Photographer: Kostas Tsironis/Blooomberg

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks climbed as concern eased Greece would confront its creditors after the nation retreated from a plan to ask the euro area to write down debt.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.8 percent to 370.2 at 8:33 a.m. in London. The benchmark measure jumped 7.2 percent in January as the European Central Bank announced an asset-purchase program. It closed little changed on Monday, erasing a drop in the final 90 minutes of trading as energy shares rallied.
Greek stocks rose 0.5 percent for a second day of gains. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis spoke in London late on Monday, proposing to exchange Greece’s existing debt for new bonds linked to economic growth, according to a person who attended the meeting. The benchmark ASE
Index slid 13 percent last month after Syriza, which won an election on pledges to challenge austerity measures, formed a new coalition government.

Among stocks moving on corporate news, BP Plc rallied 3.8 percent after posting quarterly profit of $2.2 billion, beating analysts’ predictions. A gauge of energy shares was among the best performers in 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600. Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc climbed more than 2 percent.
Banco Santander SA gained 2.7 percent. Spain’s largest lender said profit jumped 68 percent in the fourth quarter, in line with the average analyst estimate, as it set aside fewer provisions for bad loans and revenue rose. Danske Bank A/S added 1.2 percent after Denmark’s biggest bank said it will buy back shares for 5 billion kroner ($761 million), the first such program since 2004.
Alfa Laval AB advanced 3.3 percent after raising its dividend and reporting fourth-quarter sales that beat analysts’ projections.