European Markets Hovered Near Record Highs, German Factory Orders Rebounded

Bridgette Randall
06 Feb, 2025
London

Stock market indexes across Europe advanced, and investors reviewed the latest batch of corporate results. 

Benchmark indexes in Frankfurt and London hovered near record highs amid optimism about earnings, despite a weak outlook for growth in economic activities and exports. 

Investors shifted their focus to corporate results and reviewed the latest earnings from 90 companies, including Volvo Cars, Arcelor Mittal, Siemens Healthineers, Societe Generale, ING, and Maersk.

World markets have experienced heightened volatility after the newly appointed U.S. presidential administration announced and then dropped the threat of tariffs on Mexico and Canada and made a U-turn on trade restrictions on China. 

The U.S. trade policy uncertainty weighed on the market sentiment, and investors are bracing for a possible list of trade restrictions and tariffs on goods shipped from the European Union.

Crude oil prices eased for the second day in a row amid a supply glut and a lack of demand growth, and gold hovered near record highs as investors feared Trump's tariff war would support higher inflation. 

On the economic front, German factory orders rebounded 6.9% from the previous month in December, according to the latest data from Destatis, the federal statistical office. 

A 55% surge in transportation orders lifted the overall orders, and orders rebounded from a downwardly revised 5.2% decline in November.

For the full year 2024, seasonally adjusted factory orders decreased 3.0%.

 

Europe Indexes and Yields

The DAX index increased by 0.70% to 21,737.00, the CAC-40 index rose 0.69% to 7,946.14, and the FTSE 100 index advanced by 1.13% to 8,721.09. 

The yield on 10-year German bonds inched higher to 2.37%, French bonds increased to 3.09%, the UK gilts moved up to 4.60%, and Italian bonds edged higher to 3.45%.

The euro decreased to $1.04; the British pound was lower at $1.24; and the U.S. dollar was higher and traded at 90.51 Swiss cents.

Brent crude increased $0.47 to $75.08 a barrel, and the Dutch TTF natural gas was higher by €0.17 to €49.91 per MWh.

 

Europe Stock Movers 

A.P. Moeller Maersk soared 9.2% to DKK 11,885.0 after the Danish shipping company and port terminal operator reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results.

ArcelorMittal SA jumped 1.7% to €24.40 after the second-largest steel company's fourth quarter results surpassed market expectations. 

The losses in the quarter shrank to $390 million from $2.9 billion, and steel production advanced to 14 million tons from 13.7 million tons a year ago, respectively.

In the full year 2024, the company's net income advanced to $1.3 billion from $919 million a year ago.

Volvo Car AB dropped 9.2% to 21.50 krona after the vehicle maker reported a decrease in operating profit in the fourth quarter, and the company estimated turbulent 2025 amid market uncertainties. 

Siemens Healthineers AG jumped 5.3% to €57.16 after the German medical equipment company's fiscal first quarter sales surpassed market expectations.

In addition, the company reiterated its fiscal 2025 outlook. 

ING Groep NV declined 2.9% to €15.51 after the Dutch bank said annual total income in 2025 is likely to be flat compared to the previous year. 

Société Générale SA surged 9.2% to €33.79 after the French bank said fourth-quarter profit doubled on higher revenues.

Pernod Ricard SA advanced 2.7% to €104.90 despite the French wine and spirit maker lowering its outlook for the current fiscal year.