Commodity stocks and Next rally support European shares

Commodity stocks and Next rally support European shares
FILE PHOTO: Employees stand in front of an electronic board showing stock options inside the Athens stock exchange building in Athens, Greece, on June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Michalis Karagiannis Copyright Michalis Karagiannis(Reuters)
By Reuters
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MILAN (Reuters) - European shares were supported in early trading on Tuesday by gains among commodity stocks, while British clothing retailer Next <NXT.L> rallied after raising its profit guidance.

The pan-European STOXX 600 <.STOXX> rose 0.1 percent by 0720 GMT, recovering part of the losses suffered in the previous session when worries over a protracted U.S.-Sino trade war sparked profit-taking.

Brent crude prices rising to a fresh four-year high drove shares in oil majors BP <BP.L> and Shell <RDSa.AS> up 0.6 and 0.9 percent respectively, while commodities trader and miner Glencore <GLEN.L> added 2.4 percent after launching a $1 billion share buyback.

Heavyweight drugmaker Novartis <NOVN.S> rose 0.9 percent after saying it would cut about 2,200 jobs in Switzerland over the next four years to help boost profitability.

Top gainer on the STOXX was Next, up 8.5 percent.

The clothing retailer reported a 0.5 percent rise in first-half profit and raised its guidance for the full year after better-than-expected trading in August and early September.

British American Tobacco <BATS.L> fell 1.4 percent after news the cigarettes maker named Jack Bowles as CEO, while rival Imperial Brands <IMB.L> added 1.5 percent following a trading update.

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Editing by Helen Reid)

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