Europe: Shares rise on China reopening optimism, tech stocks lead gains
EUROPEAN shares rose on Monday (Jan 9), extending the year’s upbeat start to a second week, as China reopened its borders overnight and US and European data soothed nerves about aggressive tightening by major global central banks.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 gained 0.9 per cent by closing time.
The index clocked its best weekly performance in over nine months on Friday after a clutch of positive data — including strong euro zone factory activity and a drop in the region’s headline inflation — indicated a milder-than-expected recession and easing price pressures.
That, along with data showing a moderation in US wage increases, calmed fears that the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank would continue with their aggressive monetary policy tightening.
Rate-sensitive tech stocks rose 3.4 per cent.
Industrial production in Europe’s largest economy, Germany, rose slightly more than expected in November, adding to the optimism and lifting Germany’s DAX 1.3 per cent higher.
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It plays into the rhetoric that’s been going on over the past week, which seems to suggest that maybe the recession in Europe is not going to be as deep and long-lasting as might have initially been thought, said Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell.
The construction & materials index jumped 2.4 per cent.
Swiss plumbing supplies company Geberit gained 4.3 per cent, boosting the sector index, after Goldman Sachs upgraded its stock to “neutral” from “sell”.
GS said it sees less risks related to energy prices and margin improvements from raw materials in 2023 and into 2024 for the plumbing supplies company.
Data showed investor morale in the eurozone picked up for a third consecutive month in January to its highest level since June 2022 but remained in negative territory reflecting a challenging economic situation.
“It is consistent with business surveys for December which had already suggested that the downturn may be shallower than we had anticipated,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics.
Travellers streamed into China by air, land and sea on Sunday, as Beijing opened borders that have been all but shut since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Miners added 2.2 per cent as base metal prices advanced on hopes of demand recovery from top consumer China.
China-exposed financials, such as insurer Prudential rose 1.4 per cent.
AstraZeneca slipped 0.4 per cent as it struck a deal to buy US-based biopharmaceutical firm CinCor Pharma for up to US$1.8 billion to strengthen its pipeline of heart and kidney drugs and grow beyond its mainstay cancer business. REUTERS
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