Europe: Shares rally as investors cheer UK policy reversal
EUROPE’S Stoxx 600 index climbed on Monday, buoyed by banks and real estate companies as investors cheered the reversal of Britain’s fiscal plan that had sent jitters across the markets.
Britain’s ITV rallied on a report it could sell stake in production arm.
The region-wide Stoxx 600 index ended 1.8 per cent higher, extending gains for a third straight session.
London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index gained 0.9 per cent after the new finance minister Jeremy Hunt scrapped most of Prime Minister Liz Truss’s £45 billion (S$72.7 billion) of unfunded tax cuts that led to market turmoil and forced the Bank of England to intervene.
Euro zone government bond yields fell, taking cues from British gilts, but were still not far off their highest levels in more than 10 years.
All the Stoxx 600 sectors advanced, with real estate up nearly 4 per cent, followed by 3.3 per cent rise in travel and leisure stocks. Banks added 2.3 per cent.
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“The message is very much one of calm and getting a steady hand back on the tiller. The focus on market turmoil was interesting, being an acknowledgement that the UK and its fiscal policies do not exist in a vacuum, isolated from financial markets,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst, IG, London.
“Looks like a sigh of relief really, though everyone knows it will be a tough winter.”
European equities have suffered losses in the recent weeks as investors fret about the prospects of a recession from aggressive central bank actions to tame inflation. UK’s latest political turmoil only added to worries.
Investors are now keenly watching third-quarter earnings reports to see how businesses are dealing with cost pressures and to gauge guidance from companies amid growing recession concerns.
Among individual stocks, Credit Suisse rose 2.6 per cent.
Reuters reported the Swiss bank has approached at least one Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund for a capital injection.
ITV surged 9.1 per cent after a Financial Times report that the Britain’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster is exploring options for its production arm ITV Studios.
Hargreaves Lansdown fell 1.9 per cent after saying its chief executive officer would step down, a day after the British investment platform was hit by a multi-million pound lawsuit.
Nel rose 3 per cent after the Norwegian hydrogen company received a US$56.4 million order from Woodside Energy for a US hydrogen project. Mowi added 4.9 per cent after the Norwegian salmon farmer’s third-quarter profit came in above expectations. REUTERS
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