European Stocks Close Higher On Economic Optimism

Despite concerns about inflation, European markets closed on a firm note on Friday as investors picked up stocks amid continued optimism about strong economic recovery.

Expectations that global central banks will not tighten their monetary policy or scale back stimulus underpinned sentiment.

Investors also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement, due next Wednesday (June 16).

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.65%. Germany’s DAX gained 0.78%, France’s CAC 40 ended 0.83% up and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 surged up 0.65%, while Switzerland’s SMI closed 0.26% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed on firm note.

Denmark, Greece, Iceland and Norway edged up marginally, while Czech Republic and Poland closed weak.

In the UK market, Thungela Sources Limited shares soared 25.4%.

Sanne Group shares climbed 12%. The specialist fund administrator confirmed that it has received a fifth unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Cinven regarding a possible all cash offer at a price of 875 pence per share.

Melrose Industries, ICP, Glencore, Smurfit Kappa Group, Evraz, Intertek Group, 3I Group, Bunzl, Standard Life, Entain, Antofagasta, Smith (DS) and Halma gained 2 to 3%.

Informa, Just Eat Takeaway, BT Group, Imperial Brands, Ashtead Group, Sainsbury (J) and Standard Chartered ended with sharp to moderate losses.

In France, Renault rallied more than 7%. Valeo, Capgemini, WorldLine, Faurecia, ArcelorMittal, Teleperformance, Dassault Systemes, Airbus Group and LVMH also ended sharply higher.

In the German market, BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, Thyssenkrupp, MTU Aero Engines, Deutsche Post, Continental, RWE and Adidas gained 1 to 2%. Deutsche Bank ended sharply lower.

In economic releases, the U.K. economy grew at the fastest pace since July 2020 as government restrictions affecting economic activity continued to ease in April, data from the Office for Statistics showed.

Gross domestic product rose 2.3% month-on-month in April, faster than the 2.1 percent expansion seen in March. The rate was forecast to improve to 2.2%.

The German economy is projected to grow faster than previously estimated on the expectation that the vaccination campaign will suppress the pandemic quickly and sustainably, Bundesbank said in its bi-annual report.

The central bank forecast the largest euro area economy to expand 3.7% in 2021 versus 3% projected earlier. The outlook for 2022 was raised to 5.2% from 4.5%.

In 2023, real GDP growth is set to lose momentum, but will still grow 1.7% Bundesbank said.

Germany’s wholesale prices grew at the fastest pace since mid-2008 in May, data published by Destatis revealed. Wholesale prices rose 9.7% year-on-year in May, following a 7.2% increase in April. This was the fastest increase since July 2008, when prices gained 9.9%.

The annual growth was largely driven by the 46.8% jump in the petroleum product prices.