Europe: Stocks extend record rally on lift from insurers, M&A activity

[BENGALURU] European shares rose on Thursday, hitting yet another record high, as strong earnings from insurers and M&A activity in the UK helped offset a fall in mining stocks.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index inched up 0.1 per cent, extending gains to a ninth consecutive session.

British insurer Aviva rose 3.5 per cent after saying it would return at least £4 billion (S$7.5 billion) to shareholders, while Zurich Insurance Group added 3.8 per cent on reporting a 60 per cent jump in first-half business operating profit.

Dutch insurer Aegon NV jumped 7.3 per cent after posting much better than expected second-quarter earnings.

Deutsche Telekom rose 2.8 per cent after raising its profit outlook for the second time this year.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 clocked its longest winning streak since June, as earnings reports and optimism related to the pace of vaccination across Europe reinforced investor confidence in an economic recovery.

Data showed Britain's economy grew by a faster than expected 1 per cent in June, after many hospitality firms restarted indoor service in mid-May and as more people visited doctors following the pandemic, lifting healthcare.

Factory output fell in June in the euro zone, as Germany, the bloc's industrial powerhouse, faltered amid supply bottlenecks, European Union estimates showed.

"The second successive monthly fall in euro-zone industrial production in June was largely due to ongoing supply-chain difficulties in Germany," said Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics.

"As these will ease only slowly, we don't expect industry to contribute much to economic growth in the coming months, even though demand is still red hot," Mr Kenningham added.

Cineworld Group rose 3.9 per cent after it said it was considering a listing of itself or a partial listing of its movie chain Regal on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, Adidas rose 1.6 per cent after selling its Reebok brand to Authentic Brands Groups for up to 2.1 billion euros (S$3.4 billion), as the German sporting goods company sought to draw a line under an ill-fated investment.

Stock Spirits Group soared 43.7 per cent funds as funds affiliated with private-equity firm CVC agreed to take over the London-listed vodka maker in a deal valuing it at £767 million (S$1.5 billion).

Dragging down miners, UK-listed shares of global miner Rio Tinto slipped 5.5 per cent on trading ex-dividend.

REUTERS