European stocks rose Thursday as the mining sector led the advance on soaring metals prices and investors turned to commodities amid worries about an economic slowdown. «Commodities are an inflation hedge in a trend of negative (macro) surprises coming out of the U.S. which are pointing to further weakness ahead,» said Kenneth Broux, an economist at Lloyds TSB. «Commodities prices will rise as long as inflation doesn't slow down.» Steelmaker ArcelorMittal also boosted commodity stocks when it announced a price increase in steel due to rising iron ore costs. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index inched up 0.7 percent to 322.43. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.7 percent to 5932.20, while France's CAC-40 Index closed 1 percent higher at 4858.85. Germany's DAX Index finished up 0.1 percent at 6904.85. The DJ Stoxx Basic Resources sector climbed 2.8 percent to 721.35. Spot gold and platinum hit new record highs and silver rose to its highest point since 1980. Copper and other base metals rose with analysts expecting fresh highs in the near term. France's Eramet surged 11.9 percent, Sweden's SSAB soared 7.1 percent and Boliden was up 5.3 percent. BHP Billiton gained 2.1 percent and Rio Tinto added 1.8 percent. ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, announced a further ¤40 (US$58.94) per metric ton price increase for its European flat carbon steel products, due to rising costs of iron ore and other raw materials used to produce steel. Shares jumped 4.4 percent. Eyes were on earnings from French bank Societe Generale, which posted a fourth-quarter loss on the back of an alleged fraud scandal and warned of possible further write-downs in the first quarter of 2008. The stock was down 2 percent. Meanwhile, Swiss counterpart UBS said it has paved the way for faster boardroom changes, bowing to shareholder pressure over its subprime troubles, but stopped short of replacing key staff as some had hoped. Shares edged up 0.1 percent. Shares of Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier soared 7.5 percent after it said it would sell its business publishing unit and agreed to buy Atlanta-based risk management specialist ChoicePoint. The U.K.'s BAE Systems reported a higher 2007 underlying pretax profit helped by its expanding U.S. operations, and shares gained 1.3 percent. Shares of Nestle rose 3.5 percent after the world's largest food and drink company delivered a 16 percent rise in full-year net profit. Allianz, Europe's largest primary insurer by gross premiums, reported a 52 percent decline in fourth-quarter net profit, but increased its dividend by 45 percent. Shares closed 0.8 percent higher. Shares of Dutch navigation solutions provider TomTom slid 9.3 percent despite a 33 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on what analysts said was a conservative 2008 outlook. German auto supplier Continental said fourth-quarter earnings before interest and taxes, or Ebit, were up 3.4 percent amid higher global auto production and improved efficiency. Shares climbed 3.6 percent. Chemicals company BASF unveiled an 8 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit and announced plans to raise its dividend by 30 percent, and its stock slipped 1.8 percent. Swiss drug maker Actelion reported a 28 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, and gave a positive outlook for 2008. Shares lost 2.8 percent.
