European stocks bounce as earnings, data spur recovery hopes
European stocks bounced back on Wednesday after a sharp selloff in the previous session, helped by gains in commodity and banking stocks, while optimism about a strong earnings season and a speedy economic recovery dominated the markets.
European stocks bounced back on Wednesday after a sharp selloff in the previous session, helped by gains in commodity and banking stocks, while optimism about a strong earnings season and a speedy economic recovery dominated the markets. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 1.3%, wiping out almost all of its 1.4% loss on Tuesday, with the German DAX jumping 1.3% and UK's FTSE 100 gaining 1.1%.
Big UK miners, including Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Anglo American, rose about 3% each as copper prices rose past a key psychological level of $10,000 a tonne, buoyed by optimism about a speedy recovery in the global economy. Euro zone business activity accelerated in April as the bloc's dominant services industry shrugged off renewed lockdowns and returned to growth, a survey showed.
European tech stocks rose 1.8% after a 3.7% plunge in the previous session. Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled on Tuesday as investors pulled out of fast-growing companies such as Apple and Amazon amid concerns over rising interest rate and uncertainty over an upcoming jobs report.
"Yesterday's sell-off in equities is a reminder that valuations in markets are tight," Unicredit analysts said in a note. They, however, pointed out that earnings season continued to be supportive of risk appetite. German logistics company Deutsche Post rose 2.6% on raising its operating profit forecast for 2021, while Danish shipping company Maersk was up 3.4% after it said it was expecting an "exceptionally strong" performance in the first quarter to continue for the rest of the year.
European earnings are now expected to surge 83.1% in the first quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES data, up from last week's forecast of 71.3% growth. Stellantis rallied 2.7% after the carmaker reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue but warned that a global shortage of semiconductors would affect production this quarter more heavily.
Auto stocks lagged their cyclical counterparts, rising only 0.3%, as Daimler slipped after Japan's Nissan Motor said it was selling its roughly 1.5% stake in the German carmaker. German fashion house Hugo Boss rose 4.2% as it saw first-quarter sales almost double in mainland China, and its casual business returned to growth.
Delivery Hero fell 3.8% as former owners of Woowa Brothers sold shares worth about 1.25 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the online takeaway food company.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- pan-European
- Apple
- Maersk
- Daimler
- Nasdaq
- China
- Anglo American
- Rio Tinto
- Amazon
- Nissan Motor
- German
- Danish
- Japan
- European
- FTSE
ALSO READ
Germany denies accusations of aiding 'genocide' in Gaza at ICJ
Majority of German firms feel unfair competition in China, commerce chamber says
More than one in five Germans at risk of poverty or social exclusion
German police arrest Iraqi couple suspected of genocide for enslaving Yazidi girls
Father in Germany sentenced for injecting mercury into daughter's foot, convicted of attempted murder