Thursday saw a rise in European stocks as investors scrutinized data including private sector and producer price inflation from the Eurozone, the recent policy meeting minutes from the European Central Bank (ECB), and remarks on interest rate outlook from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. In anticipation of the forthcoming U.S. non-farm payroll data due on Friday, the market sentiment tilted in favor of optimism.
The ECB's policymakers indicated a high level of confidence about inflation meeting the 2 percent target. However, according to the minutes from the March 6-7 policy session, they still advocated for patience, acknowledging that the likelihood of an interest rate cut has increased.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 saw an uptick of 0.16%. On the other hand, the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose by 0.48% and Germany's DAX increased by 0.19%. Conversely, the CAC 40 in France dip slightly by 0.02%, whereas Switzerland's SMI saw a rise of 0.64%.
Markets in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey all experienced gains. On the flip side, the markets in the Czech Republic and Denmark displayed weakness, while Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal remained stable.
In other corporate news, U.K.-based Entain, the gaming company, saw its shares increase by almost 5% upon the announcement that its Chair, Barry Gibson, will resign by the end of September after serving the company for over four years. Other companies such as Antofagasta, Mondi, Fresnillo, Anglo American Plc, Lloyds Banking, Natwest Group, EasyJet, Reckitt Benckiser, Barclays, DS Smith, Ashtead, RS Group, and Legal & General saw gains of 2 to 4%.
However, not all companies fared well, with the Ocado Group, St. James's Place, Admiral Group, IHG, Convatec Group, Vodafone, Whitbread, Croda International, and Rolls-Royce Holdings experiencing losses ranging from 1 to 2.5%.
In the German market, companies like Siemens Energy, BKW, Volkswagen, Fresenius, RWE, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler Truck Holding, Puma, Infineon, and Fresenius Medical Care all enjoyed an upward swing of 1 to 3.2%. However, losses of 1 to 1.6% were observed with Qiagen, Symrise, Munich RE, Hannover Rueck, Henkel, and Merck.
French car manufacturer Renault saw a notable increase of more than 3%, whilst Saint Gobain, WorldLine, Eurofins Scientific, Unibail Rodamco, Edenred, BNP Paribas, Kering, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, and Veolia all experienced significant to moderate increases. Meanwhile, Essilor, Carrefour, Vinci, Pernod Ricard, and Air Liquide faced a dip in their stock value.
In other news, shares of Swedish auto giant Volvo Car AB witnessed a massive surge of nearly 7% after the company reported significant growth in vehicle sales for the month of March and the first quarter. Pharmaceutical company Basilea enjoyed a 12.4% jump following the U.S. regulatory approval for Zevtera, an antibiotic for treating multiple infections.
New data from S&P Global illustrated expansion in the euro area private sector in March, reversing a contraction trend that originated last June. The final HCOB composite output index increased to a ten-month high of 50.3 in March from 49.2 in February. Furthermore, Eurozone producer prices recorded a considerable decline in February, falling by 8.3% year-over-year, mainly due to the persistent downward trajectory in energy prices, as reported by Eurostat.
Lastly, S&P Global's data depicted a significant, albeit slower, expansion in the UK service sector in March. Although the expansion has receded a bit, this is the fifth consecutive month of growth.
