European Indexes Advanced Tracking Global Gains, France's Jobless Rate Eased

Bridgette Randall
09 Aug, 2024
London

European markets attempted to advance in Friday's trading after a week of wild trading and historic volatility. 

Benchmark indexes in Paris, London, and Frankfurt increased more than 0.3% and extended weekly gains to as much as 3%. 

Investor confidence was bolstered after worries about the U.S. economy subsided following a smaller-than-expected increase in jobless claims. 

Market sentiment was also supported by an additional batch of positive earnings in the U.S. and Europe. 

Closer to home on the domestic economic front, France's jobless rate eased to 7.3% in the second quarter from 7.5% in the first quarter, the statistical office, INSEE, reported Friday. 

The number of jobless increased by 40,000 to 2.3 million, and the youth jobless rate among those between the ages of 15 and 24 eased by 0.4 percentage points to 17.7%. 

Consumer price inflation accelerated to 2.8% in July from a 42-month low of 2.6% in June, Statistics Norway reported Friday. 

Meanwhile, consumer inflation, adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy prices, increased by 3.3% lower than 3.4% in the previous year and dropped to the lowest level since April 2022. 

 

Europe Indexes and Yields

The DAX index increased by 0.3% to 17,730.30; the CAC-40 index rose by 0.5% to 7,280.94; and the FTSE 100 index advanced by 0.5% to 8,182.85. 

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged lower to 2.23%, French bonds inched lower to 2.97%, the UK gilts inched higher to 3.94%, and Italian bonds decreased to 3.65%.

The euro edged down to $1.09; the British pound inched lower to $1.272; and the U.S. dollar weakened to 86.48 Swiss cents.

Brent crude increased $0.20 to $79.36 a barrel, and the Dutch TTF natural gas fell by €0.41 to €39.90 per MWh.

 

Europe Stock Movers

Hargreaves Lansdown advanced 2% to 1,099.50 pence after the UK-based investment platform agreed to be acquired by a consortium of private equity firms led by CVC Capital Partners for £5.44 billion or $6.94 billion. 

Generali Group increased 0.2% to €22.16 after the Italian insurance company reported mixed results in the first half of 2024. 

Jenoptik AG increased 9.8% to €27.48 after the German optics company reported an increase in sales and earnings in the second quarter. 

RTL Group declined 0.5% to €28.25, and the German television and radio station operator controlled by Bertelsmann reported a 4.7% increase in advertising revenue in the first half of 2024. 

Lanxess AG added 5.8% to €22.96, and the German specialty chemical company reiterated its full-year outlook despite reporting a 6% decline in second quarter sales.