2018-11-12
European shares rose on Monday thanks to the strength of oil companies, while tobacco stocks fell on fresh signs of tightening regulatory restrictions on cigarettes with menthol flavor.
 
By 0826 GMT, the Stoxx 600 European index rose 0.2 percent, having ended last week on a decline as confidence continued to decline.
 
The oil sector index jumped 1.8 percent as oil prices surged more than 1.5 percent after Saudi Arabia, the world's top exporter, announced a cut in supplies in December as other producers studied production cuts in 2019.
 
The core resource index rose 1.8 percent amid a large-scale rise in economic-related stocks.
 
British American Tobacco fell 11 percent to its lowest level since February 2014 after the Wall Street Journal said the US Food and Drug Administration was planning a ban on menthol cigarettes.
 
Shares in Imperial Brands fell just 3.4 percent, with dealers saying British American is the biggest reveal of cigarettes in menthol flavor.
 
Business results continued to move stocks despite a slow flow of earnings announcements as the season drew to a close.
 
Simcorp was followed by Stokes, with the company falling 10 percent as its results after Friday's close showed a drop in profits.
 
Mergers and acquisitions were also an engine for the market.
Shares in SABB fell 3 percent, topping the Dow Jones index, after the software maker announced the acquisition of Calatrax International to monitor consumer sentiment for $ 8 billion, a price analysts and analysts said was high