Europe: Retail rally helps stocks rise

[BENGALURU] Retail stocks surged after strong results from Zara-owner Inditex on Wednesday, but it was a mixed session for the wider European market, with Britain's exporter-heavy FTSE 100 hit by a stronger pound.

Investors were waiting to hear from the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to wrap up its latest policy meeting with somewhat rosier economic forecasts but a renewed pledge to keep interest rates low for as long as the US needs to recover from a pandemic-induced recession.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.6 per cent, gaining for the fourth straight session, while Britain's main FTSE 100 fell 0.4 per cent and the euro zone's blue-chip index gained 0.2 per cent.

"Whatever the Fed says, the reality is that there is more monetary stimulus coming anyway," said Edmund Shing, global head of equity derivative strategy at BNP Paribas. "It doesn't change that longer-term narrative for equities which I think is the real driver."

Spain's Inditex was a star performer after it said current trade showed a progressive return to normality, with online sales growing sharply and store sales recovering. Its shares jumped 8.1 per cent, while the broader retail sector rose 1.3 per cent.

Madrid-listed stocks jumped 1 per cent, also getting a boost from news that Caixabank and Bankia are set to approve a deal on Thursday that will create Spain's biggest domestic lender. The banks' shares rose 1.3 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively.

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Despite a subdued session in UK markets, shares in e-commerce firm The Hut Group surged 25 per cent in the first major British initial public offering in seven years.

Signs of compromise emerged on the Brexit front, with Reuters reporting that Britain offered tentative concessions on fisheries in trade talks with the European Union last week, just as London was threatening to breach the terms of its divorce deal with the bloc.

German logistics group Deutsche Post AG rose 1.9 per cent and Britain's Royal Mail gained 5.3 per cent after strong earnings from US delivery firm FedEx Corp.

Sweden's Handelsbanken rose 2.4 per cent after revealing plans to close almost half of its branches and cut about 1,000 jobs over the next two years.

REUTERS