Morning Market Summary July 17

European shares advanced Thursday, with gains for pharmaceuticals and banks offsetting losses in the technology sector as investors eyed earnings from Novartis, J.P. Morgan and Nokia. After trading in a tight range through the morning, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 finished in the green, up 0.5% to 210.05. On a regional level, the French CAC-40 rose 0.9% to 3,199.68, the German DAX gained 0.6% to 4,957.19 while the U.K. FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 4,361.84. It was the fourth straight day of gains for the Stoxx 600 index and the move sparked some hope that markets could break out of a trading range occupied since early May. Banks climbed after U.S. banking giant J.P. Morgan posted a 36% profit rise in the second quarter to $2.72 billion. Shares of French bank Societe Generale advanced 3.1% in Paris. French rival BNP Paribas advanced 1.7%, while Barclays shares climbed 0.5% and HSBC Holdings shares rose 1.1%, both in London. Meanwhile, Novartis took positive sentiment on earnings into the pharmaceutical sector Thursday, gaining 3.5% in Switzerland. The firm's second-quarter net income fell 9.8% to $2.04 billion or 90 cents a share but beat analysts estimates.

Most Asian equity markets ended higher Thursday after a strong rally on Wall Street, but robust economic data from China failed to lift shares in Shanghai as investors there locked in profits. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged up 0.8% to 9344.16, rising for a third straight session. South Korea's Kospi also added 0.8%, and Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.6%. Shanghai-listed stocks opened higher and gained further after official data showed the Chinese economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace of 7.9% in the second quarter over the year-earlier period. But stocks later retreated on profit-taking in transportation and resource sectors, with the Shanghai Composite ending down 0.2% at 3183.74. Hong Kong shares reversed some gains on "consolidation" ahead of financial results from J.P. Morgan and Citigroup. The benchmark ended up 0.6% at 18361.87.

Most base metals on the London Metal Exchange swung to positive territory Thursday on a combination of better-than-expected U.S. economic data and rising equity markets. The LME base metals initially opened lower Thursday due to profit-taking from Wednesday's rises, but the U.S. government release of encouraging new jobless claims and strong earnings from U.S.-based JP Morgan Chase & Co. pushed base metal prices higher. London Metal Exchange was trading; official cash ask prices were: copper 5231.50 tonne, tin $13,210, lead $1600.50, zinc $1505.50, aluminium $1636 and nickel $15,850. Gold futures settled mildly lower as participants booked some profits from the previous session's gains. August gold sank $4 to settle at $935.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver futures settled slightly higher, but the move was mostly reflective of thin market conditions. Comex September silver rose 2.7 cents to settle at $13.235 an ounce.

Crude-oil prices topped $62 a barrel Thursday, lifted by stronger equities and the expiration of August Nymex crude options. Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled 48 cents higher at $62.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement price since July 7. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled 34 cents lower at $62.75 a barrel. Crude prices popped above $62 a barrel just before the end of Nymex pit trading as some traders, who had option positions betting that the price would decline, were forced to buy back futures to cut their losses as the contracts expired.