June 30 (Reuters) - European shares ended the first half of the current year in positive territory, gaining 2.2 percent, against a 20 percent slide in the Jan.-June period in 2008.
The FTSEurofrst 300 index of top Euroepean shares hit a lifetime low on March 9 following the financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s, that began with U.S. mortgage defaults in 2007 and threatened much of the world with a deep and vicious recession.
The index surged 15.9 percent in the Apr.-June period of 2009, the best quarter since the last three months of 1999 and the first positive quarter since the market started to melt down in mid-2007.
The benchmark index has jumped 31.7 percent sice the March low, but is still down 48 percent from a multi-year peak scaled in the middle of 2007.
The index lost 45 percent in 2008 after five straight years of gains. The basic resources and banking sectors were among the worst perfomers last year, both down 65 percent, but the sectors are the best performers so far this year, up 39.2 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively.
Performance of major European stock indexes (in percent) .
H1 2009 H1 2008 Full 2008 Full 2007 FTSEurofirst 300 Europe 2.19 -20.26 -44.78 1.56 DJ STOXX 600 Europe 4.54 -20.64 -46.00 -0.17 FTSE 100 UK -4.17 -12.87 -31.33 3.80 DAX Germany -0.03 -20.44 -40.37 22.29 CAC 40 France -2.41 -21.00 -42.68 1.31 FTSE MIB Italy -2.04 -23.88 -49.53 -6.95 SMI Switzerland -2.36 -17.99 -34.77 -3.43 IBEX 35 Spain 6.44 -20.66 -39.40 7.30 AEX Netherlands 3.57 -17.42 -52.32 4.12 OMXS30 Sweden 20.15 -20.69 -38.75 -5.74 OSLO OBX Norway 27.79 -2.57 -52.82 13.65 PSI 20 Portugal 12.14 -31.61 -51.29 16.27 ATX Austria 19.87 -12.63 -61.20 1.11 BEL 20 Belgium 6.41 -23.24 -53.76 -5.95 OMXC20 Denmark 17.35 -8.58 -46.63 5.13 OMXH GEN PI Finland 3.78 -26.05 -53.41 20.50 Athens General Greece 23.70 -33.58 -65.50 17.86 Irish SE Ireland 15.48 -24.87 -66.21 -26.29
Performance of European sector indexes (in percent): DJ Stoxx basic resources 39.22 7.10 -64.86 28.02 DJ Stoxx bank index 19.52 -32.76 -64.76 -16.87 DJ Stoxx retail index 15.65 -29.34 -43.83 -1.33 DJ Stoxx financial services 13.20 -24.82 -56.19 -12.66 DJ Stoxx technology index 11.44 -28.55 -49.76 -1.11 DJ Stoxx auto index 7.96 -29.69 -44.67 24.37 DJ Stoxx energy index 7.47 -5.06 -40.16 7.39 DJ Stoxx personal and household goods 7.18 -23.82 -42.22 6.26 DJ Stoxx industrial index 6.89 -19.28 -47.37 9.38 DJ Stoxx construction 4.81 -24.98 -47.58 -1.36 DJ Stoxx food & beverage 3.02 -19.63 -30.20 10.89 DJ Stoxx chemical index 2.73 -4.55 -37.85 25.47 DJ Stoxx travel and leisure index 0.12 -25.91 -46.56 -16.50 DJ Stoxx media index -5.49 -28.98 -40.62 -5.82 DJ Stoxx healthcare index -5.70 -12.43 -18.75 -10.94 DJ Stoxx telecom index -5.86 -25.83 -36.98 14.58 DJ Stoxx insurance index -8.65 -24.57 -46.67 -11.92 DJ Stoxx utility index -10.98 -16.42 -38.45 17.95
QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE OF FTSEUROFIRST 300
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2009 -11.81 PERCENT 15.91 PERCENT -- --
2208 -16.23 PERCENT -4.82 PERCENT -11.46 PERCENT
-21.78 PERCENT
2007 2.17 PERCENT 5.92 PERCENT -3.39 PERCENT
-2.86 PERCENT
2006 7.44 PERCENT -4.15 PERCENT 6.31 PERCENT
6.23 PERCENT
QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE OF DJ STOXX 600
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2009 -10.38 PERCENT 16.64 PERCENT -- --
2208 -16.09 PERCENT -5.42 PERCENT -11.52 PERCENT
-23.10 PERCENT
2007 2.45 PERCENT 5.21 PERCENT -4.03 PERCENT
-3.50 PERCENT
2006 7.87 PERCENT -4.12 PERCENT 6.48 PERCENT
6.98 PERCENT
The best and worst performers on UK's FTSE 100 index in H1 2009
TOP 5 GAINERS
Kazakhmys 181.6 PERCENT
Fresnillo 126.1 PERCENT
Vedanta Resources 110.6 PERCENT
Eurasian 98.3 PERCENT
Petrofac 93.6 PERCENT
TOP 5 LOSERS
Land Securities Group -43.5 PERCENT
British Airways -30.6 PERCENT
Wolseley -27.7 PERCENT
Legal & General -26.1 PERCENT
Lloyds Banking Group -25.5 PERCENT
The best and worst performers on France's CAC in H1 2009
TOP 5 GAINERS
Dexia 68.9 PERCENT
Peugeot 54.1 PERCENT
BNP Paribas 52.9 PERCENT
Renault 41.1 PERCENT
ArcelorMittal 37.6 PERCENT
TOP 5 LOSERS
Vivendi -26.8 PERCENT
GDF Suez -24.9 PERCENT
Saint-Gobain -21.9 PERCENT
Accor -19.5 PERCENT
France Telecom -19.0 PERCENT
The best and worst performers on Germany's DAX in H1 2009
TOP 5 GAINERS
Deutsche Bank 55.2 PERCENT
BMW 24.2 PERCENT
Metro AG 20.0 PERCENT
Hannover Re 17.2 PERCENT
Salzgitter 15.8 PERCENT
TOP 5 LOSERS
Commerzbank -33.3 PERCENT
DT Telekom -21.535 PERCENT
Deutsche Post -21.495 PERCENT
Beiersdorf -19.595 PERCENT
Lufthansa -19.526 PERCENT
(For an analysis on Q2 corporate earnings, click on and)
(Compiled by Atul Prakash; editing by Simon Jessop)