European shares advance ahead of inflation data
European shares advanced on Tuesday after posting steep declines last week, buoyed by gains in banks stocks, with focus now on more data and commentary from central banks’ officials to gauge their monetary policy path.
Pedestrians walk in front of an electronic board displaying the numbers of the Tokyo Stock Exchange share price in Tokyo on June 17, 2024. - Tokyo stocks opened lower on June 17 as a higher yen and falls in two of the three main US indexes weighed on the market. — AFP.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.3% as of 0807 GMT, with travel and leisure leading gains among sectors, jumping 1.4%.
Whitbread, up 3.7%, boosted the sector after the
British hotel group reiterated its annual forecast and posted a 1% rise in first-quarter revenue.
Lenders in the region gained 0.8%, continuing to recover from an 8% drop last week.
Global sentiment also remained upbeat following the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq scoring record closing highs on Monday.
European shares posted their biggest weekly drop so far this year on Friday, as French President Emmanuel Macron called for a snap election following a trouncing of his ruling centrist party in the European Parliament elections.
“Many investors out there (are) now saying that the sell-off we saw last week in French equities has been overdone and the fact that the political uncertainties are not necessarily going to impact the economic outlook of the country,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Focus will now be on commentary from central bank officials around the world, with at least six U.S. Federal Reserve officials and European Central Bank’s Vice President Luis de Guindos slated to speak throughout the day.
A final reading of May euro-zone inflation and a German survey of economic sentiment due later in the day are also on the market participants’ radar.
Schneider Electric gained around 1%, after
Jefferies upgraded the French electric equipment and automation systems maker’s stock to “Buy” from “Hold”.
Novonesis advanced 5.1%, after the Danish biotechnology group raised its full-year outlook, expecting growing demand for its biosolutions.
STMicroelectronics added 1.8%, after Goldman
Sachs upgraded its rating on the European chipmaker’s stock to “Neutral” from “Sell”, citing improved demand in some end-markets and the stock’s recent underperformance.
Ashtead Group shed 4.6%, after the British equipment rental firm forecast a slower growth in group rental revenue for fiscal 2025.
Carrefour dropped 9.4%, after reports in French media said the finance ministry was recommending a “record fine” against the French supermarket group for management of its franchise network.— Reuters.
