- Draghi sounds dovish note
- Clashes in Ukraine
- No consensus now at ECB on need for May policy action - MNI
- Basic resource stocks best performers

FTSE-100: 0.70%
Dax-30: 0.91%
Cac-40: 1.05%
FTSE Mibtel 30: 1.03%
Ibex 35: 0.75%
Stoxx 600: 0.73%

European stocks moved quickly higher during the morning session after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi sounded a rather dovish note during his speech in the Netherlands.

More specifically, he ran over all of the options which are available to the central bank should it need to compensate for an unwanted tightening in its monetary stance.

Also helping investor sentiment along was a better-than-expected reading on German business confidence earlier in the day, courtesy of the IFO institute, alongside solid quarterly earnings figures out from US technology giant Apple.

The IFO business cliamte gauge rose to 111.2 in April from 110.4 in the month before (consensus: 110.4), led by a jump in the expectations sub-index to 107.3 from 106.4 in March.

Also lending a helping hand, were the reports that American outfit GE may be looking to purchase French rival Alstom for about $13bn.

That may be interpreted by investors as confirmation that 'animal spirits' in the corporate world - even if only on the other side of the pond - have indeed improved.

Acting as a backdrop, various clashes have been reported in Ukraine, as the authorities in Kiev moved to act against pro-Russian radicals. Five pro-Russian militants were reportedly killed in a clash at a checkpoint outside the city of Slovyansk.

Shares of Alstom rocket

From a sector standpoint, the best performance was being logged by companies in the following industrial groups: Basic Resources (1.22%), Chemicals (1.18%) and Financial Services (1.13%).

Shares of French engineering group Alstom were 15% higher following the reported interest from US firm GE. Bouygues, one of its major shareholders, is said to back the bid.

Coincidentally, the US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has cleared Dassault Systems acquisition of US scientific software firm Accelrys. The French outfit also confirmed its 2014 forecasts.

Spanish lender Caixabank reported a 54.6% drop in first quarter net profits to €152m.

Euro moves edges slightly higher

The euro/dollar was up by 0.05% at 1.3820.

Front-month Brent crude futures were edging higher by 0.165% to the $109.31/barrel mark on the ICE.

AB

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