European Markets Hovered Near Recent Highs with Earnings In Focus

Bridgette Randall
08 Feb, 2024
Frankfurt

European markets advanced, and investors looked overseas in the absence of domestic economic news.

Benchmark indexes in Frankfurt, Paris, and London edged higher despite the U.S. interest rate uncertainty, wean consumer sentiment in the eurozone, and elevated geopolitical tensions.

China's consumer price inflation declined for the fourth month in a row, and producer prices fell for the sixteenth consecutive month, citing persistent deflation risks.

Investors also reviewed the latest batch of earnings, and Maersk, AstraZeneca, BAT, Societe Generale, and Siemens were in focus after reporting their quarterly results.

 

Europe Indexes and Yields

The DAX index increased 0.2% to 16,956.58, the CAC-40 index rose 0.7% to 7,662.40, and the FTSE 100 index inched higher by 0.3% to 7,649.20.

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged up to 2.29%; French bonds inched higher to 2.80%; the UK gilts edged lower to 3.97%; and Italian bonds inched higher to 3.87%.

The euro edged lower to $1.078, the British pound inched higher to $1.263, and the U.S. dollar gained to 87.30 Swiss cents.

Brent crude increased $0.30 to $79.51 a barrel, and the Dutch TTF natural gas decreased by €0.04 to €28.15 per MWh.

 

Europe Stock Movers

ArcelorMittal rose 2.6% to €25.86 despite the France-based global steel company reporting a net loss of $2.9 billion.

Adyen NV soared 19.1% to €1,413.80 after the Dutch payment service provider reported a sharp jump in its net profit in the second half of fiscal 2023.

AP Moeller-Maersk Class B dropped 13.1% to DKK 11,080.0 after the ocean freight shipping company reported a net loss of $442 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

AstraZeneca declined 3.2% to 10,152.0 pence after the British drug company reported a lower-than-expected profit in its latest period.

BAT soared 7.6% to 2,492.50 pence after the company said it plans to lower its stake in India-based hotel-to-tobacco conglomerate ITC.