European markets ended on a high docket on Monday, fuelled by positive economic signals from Europe and continued positive response to last week’s jobs data from the U.S.
Boosting investor confidence was data revealing an improved euro area investor outlook. Supporting sentiment further was news of increased German industrial production.
Investors are gearing up for significant economic events this week, including the release of minutes from the U.S Federal Reserve, U.S. inflation data, and an announcement from the European Central Bank on monetary policy.
The Pan-European Stoxx 600 rose by 0.47%, with the U.K’s FTSE 100 following suit with an uptick of 0.41%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 advanced by 0.79% and 0.72%, respectively, while Switzerland’s SMI concluded the day with an increase of 0.45%.
Several other European markets, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, and Turkey also finished in the green. Iceland, Norway and Spain, however, had a marginal downturn.
In the U.K, sports betting and gaming group, Entain, surged more than 5% on reports of a potential break-up bid from private equity firm Apollo. Stocks such as Rio Tinto, EasyJet, Anglo American Plc, Scottish Mortgage, Airtel Africa, Beazley, Fresenillo, Burberry Group, Schrodders and Centrica gained between 2 to 4.5%.
Shares of Rolls-Royce Holdings, Glencore, WPP, Land Securities, Phoenix Holdings, Barclays Group, ICP and Frasers Group also recorded notable rises. Conversely, stocks like The Sage Group, Flutter Entertainment, Severn Trent, Marks & Spencer, RightMove, United Utilities and Haleon dipped between 1 to 3%.
The German stock market witnessed a more than 7% surge in Zalando stocks following a rating upgrade by Citigroup. Other gainers included Energy, Infineon, Mercedes-Benz, Fresenius, Covestro, Sartorius, BMW, Continental, Vonovia, Adidas and Daimler Truck Holding with a growth of 1-3%.
The French market ended positively with strong gains in stocks such as Unibail Rodamco, Thales, Teleperformance, Carrefour, Eurofins Scientific, WorldLine, TotalEnergies, Vinci, Pernod Ricard, Renault, Airbus Group, Essilor, STMicroElectronics, Engie and ArcelorMittal.
On the economic data front, European investor confidence continued to rise for the sixth consecutive month, reaching a 26-month high in April as outlook turned positive for the first time since the Ukraine war began.
Germany’s industrial production grew 2.1% in February, surpassing economists' forecast of a 0.3% expansion. However, on an annual basis, industrial production declined 4.9%. German exports suffered a bigger than expected fall of 2% in February.
Switzerland's unemployment rate remained stable at 2.4% in March, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
