European stocks closed higher on Monday, lifting many of the region’s benchmarks to new record highs, as investors bet on hopes top U.S. banks will report strong second-quarter earnings.
Worries about the impact of the delta variant of the coronavirus weighed a bit and limited markets‘ upside. Leaders of the G20 nations admitted that COVID-19 variants could threaten the economic recovery from the pandemic.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to confirm the plan to lift almost all covid-19 restrictions on July 19th although he urged people to be cautious. Meanwhile, there are fears that the spread of the virus in Europe might prompt many governments to announce new round of restrictions.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.69%. Germany’s DAX surged up 0.65%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.46% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.05%. Switzerland’s SMI moved up 0.77%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portgual, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher.
Ireland and Turkey closed weak, while Austria, Greece and Iceland ended flat.
In the UK market, Admiral Group shares gained nearly 4% after the company said it anticipates a higher than expected Group profit before tax from continuing operations for the first half of 2021 in the range of 450 million pounds to 500 million pounds.
B&M and Natwest Group both ended higher by about 2.2%. Ocado Group, Experian, Land Securities, Sage Group, Segro, AstraZeneca, Ashtead Group and United Utilities gained 1 to 2%.
Shares of Daily Mail & General Trust moved higher after the media group said that its controlling shareholder, Rothermere Continuation Ltd., is considering a bid for the remaining assets of the group, if the sales of its insurance risk unit and Cazoo business go through.
Among the losers, Rolls-Royce Holdings plunged more than 5%. IAG declined 4.2% and Whitbread ended 3.1% down. Associated British Foods, Compass Group, IHG, Flutter Entertainment, Taylor Wimpey, Melrose Industries, Antofagasta, JD Sports Fashion, Smith (DS), Fresnillo, Anglo American Plc and CRH shed 1 to 2.8%.
In the French market, Sanofi, WorldLine, Dassault Systemes, Teleperformance, Essilor, Orange, Veolia, LOreal, StMicroElectronics and Air Liquide gained 1 to 1.6%.
Atos shares tumbled more than 17% after the company booked lower-than-expected profitability in the first half and cut financial targets for the year.
Valeo shed more than 3%. Sodexo, Accor, Air France-KLM, Renault, Safran, Technip and Faurecia shed 1.4 to 2.8%.
In Germany, Volkswagen rallied more than 3% and RWE gained nearly 2.5%. Vonovia, Deutsche Telekom, BMW, Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Bank, SAP and Fresenius also ended notably higher.
Thyssenkrupp, Lufthansa, MTU Aero Engines, HeidelbergCement, Bayer, Infineon Technologies and Henkel ended with sharp to moderate losses.
In economic news, Germany’s wholesale prices increased by 10.7% year-on-year in June, the fastest pace since 1981, data from Destatis revealed. Wholesale prices grew 9.7% in May.
The high rates partly reflect the low base effect as prices were low in the same period of previous year in connection with the coronavirus crisis.
On a monthly basis, wholesale price growth eased to 1.5% in June from 1.7% in May.
Market Analysis
European Stocks Close Higher As Investors Look Ahead To Earnings
2021-07-12 18:11:02
