Bargain Hunters Lift Indexes in U.S. and Europe

Barry Adams
13 May, 2022
New York City

Investors returned searching for bargains in tech stocks and also bulked up energy stocks following another sustained rise in crude oil prices. 

The S&P 500 index increased 1.3% to 3,980.25 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.8% to 11,569.50. 

Twitter Inc soared 11% after Elon Musk demanded the company to confirm the number of fake accounts operated by spam or robots. 

Twitter in a regulatory filing earlier had said about 5% of its active accounts are likely to be operated by robots or appear to be fake. 

European markets advanced after bargain hunters searched for stocks in energy and tech sectors. 

The DAX index increased 1.5% to 13,938.2, the CAC-40 index gained 1.6% to 6,303.02, and the FTSE 100 index added 1.6% to 7,348.66. 

Industrial output in the euro zone declined 1.8% in March from February and fell 0.8% from a year ago, the statistics agency of the region Eurostat said today. 

The weakening supply chains and rising prices in the region impacted the output in the region. 

The agency also revised lower February output to 0.5% increase from 0.7% and to 1.7% gain from 2.0% on a monthly and annual basis respectively. 

Separately, the French statistics agency said inflation rose at an annual pace of 5.4% in April from a year ago. 

Energy stocks were in demand after crude oil prices continued the ascent on the worries that resumption of economic activities across Europe and China may lead to acute shortages. 

Brent crude traded up 1.6% to $109.2 a barrel.  

Royal Dutch Shell and BP Plc gained more than 1%. 

Renault gained more than 2% after the company said it is looking to separate its research and development arm focused on building electric vehicles. 

Finland-based Fortum Oyj  jumped 4% after the utility company said it is planning to exit from its Russian operations. 

Asian markets advanced after bargain hunters looked for companies in the tech, energy, and utility sectors. 

The Nikkei index increased 2.6% to 26,427.14, the Hang Seng Index gained 2.7% to 19,89.02, and the Shanghai Composite index advanced 1% to 3,084.03. 

Chinese authorities denied that Beijing is likely to be placed in a Shanghai-style lockdown. 

Separately Shanghai local authorities confirmed that the city is expected to reach to zero-Covid at several communities levels next week. 

Stocks in Mumbai edged lower for the sixth day in a row on the worries that the elevated energy prices will slow down the economy and lift rates higher.