Europe: Shares rebound as vaccine reassurances lift sentiment

[BENGALURU] European shares ticked up on Thursday (Dec 9) as positive comments from vaccine makers allayed some fears around the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, while Deutsche Bank slipped after a report that it might have violated a criminal settlement.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.2 per cent after a mid-week wobble in the previous session on concerns about fresh restrictions in Britain.

"The market is assuming it is just a question of 'how quickly can we rollout booster jabs' rather than going back to square one," said Michael Bell, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.

BioNTech and Pfizer said on Wednesday a 3-shot course of their vaccine could neutralise the variant.

Other preliminary data has suggested that Omicron is less dangerous than initially feared.

Bell forecast a positive outlook for European equities next year even if policy tightens, saying, even "if interest rates go up, most people are not really going to feel it at least over the next year or two, as it is not going to slow down economies very much".

European bourses have seen wild intraday swings on worries the newly discovered variant could dent global economic recovery as governments ramp up measures to slow its spread. Still, the STOXX 600 is set to log its biggest weekly gain since March, if gains hold.

Investors' focus is on US consumer price inflation data due on Friday and a series of central bank meetings next week, including of the European Central Bank, for cues on the path of monetary policy.

Deutsche Bank dropped 2.3 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported the US Justice Department said the bank failed to tell prosecutors about an internal complaint in its asset-management arm's sustainable investing business.

Meanwhile, UniCredit surged 7.5 per cent to the top of Italy's blue-chip FTSE MIB after the company said it aimed to increase its net profit on average by 10 per cent a year till 2024.

French waste and water management company Veolia offered the biggest boost to utility stocks after sources said it was set to secure EU antitrust approval along with Suez for their 13 billion euro (S$20 million) tie-up.

Telecoms stocks led by BT Group, were the biggest winners on the index, while oil stocks fell 1 per cent.

Utility firm EDF sank 3.7 per cent after a trader pointed to a media report on a French government plan to limit the impact of rising electricity prices.

REUTERS