Weaker Bond Yields Drive European Markets Higher and Extend Weekly Gains

Bridgette Randall
09 Nov, 2023
Frankfurt

European market indexes extended the previous week's gains, and bond yields edged lower in choppy trading.

Benchmark indexes in London, Paris, and Frankfurt advanced between 0.3% and 0.6%, and investors snapped up real estate and banking sector stocks.

Investors are bidding up stocks in the hopes that central banks will pause interest rate hikes at the next meeting in December, supporting rate stability till the end of January.

The European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Japan held their short-term interest rates.

Market participants are hoping that the recent weak retail sales data is likely to support the central bank's case to pause rates as the Eurozone economy adjusts to multiple rate hikes over the last fifteen months. 

In listless trading, stocks lacked direction but managed to regain footing in the afternoon. The euro edged higher, and bond yields extended the recent decline to the second week.

 

Europe Indexes and Yields

The DAX index increased 0.4% to 15,291.50, the CAC-40 index rose 0.6% to 7,079.90, and the FTSE 100 index advanced 0.3% to 7,420.84.

The yield on 10-year German bonds increased to 2.65%, French bonds traded higher to 3.24%, the UK gilts edged up to 4.27%, and Italian bonds inched lower to 4.53%.

The euro rebounded to $1.068, the British pound at $1.22, and the U.S. dollar at 90.07 Swiss cents.

Brent crude increased $0.54 to $80.08 a barrel, and the Dutch TTF natural gas edged higher by €1.52 to €47.30 per MWh.

 

Europe Stock Movers

Arcelor Mittal SA declined 1.9% to €21.0 after the steel company reported lower revenue and earnings in the third quarter.

Airbus SE decreased 3.1% to €126.40 despite the aircraft maker posting a higher underlying third quarter profit and reiterating its annual delivery target financial outlook.

Flutter Entertainment plc dropped 8.5% to 12,500.0 pence after the online betting platform said it plans to delist its stock from the Irish Stock Exchange and list in the U.S.

AstraZeneca plc gained 2.8% to 10,458.0 pence after the drug company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.

Taylor Wimpey plc increased 2.2% to 118.19 pence after the UK-based home builder reiterated its annual outlook.

Wizz Air Holdings PLC dropped 6.4% to 1,746.0 pence despite the budget airline estimating a narrower annual loss.

Henkel AG & Co. advanced 2.4% to €69.08 after the German consumer products maker lifted its annual estimate.

Merck KGaA jumped 4.9% to €155.25 after the German pharmaceutical company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.