Europe open: Stocks make healthy gains as ECB's Coeure comments lift sentiment
European stocks rose in early trade as investors welcomed comments from Benoit Coeure, an executive board member at the European Central Bank, who said that the bank would front-load asset purchases in May and June due to low market liquidity during the summer months.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG St
€106.55
17:30 24/04/24
CAC 40
8,091.86
16:59 24/04/24
Daimler AG
€70.16
16:30 19/03/24
DJ EURO STOXX 50
4,989.88
00:00 25/04/24
Financial Services
13,858.08
17:09 24/04/24
Food Producers & Processors
8,121.07
17:09 24/04/24
FTSE 100
8,040.38
16:34 24/04/24
FTSE 250
19,719.37
17:09 24/04/24
FTSE 350
4,419.71
17:09 24/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,374.06
16:44 24/04/24
ICAP
469.70p
17:09 14/12/16
Mobile Telecommunications
1,823.41
16:59 24/01/22
Renault
€48.82
17:19 24/04/24
Unilever
3,863.00p
16:40 24/04/24
Vodafone Group
69.34p
16:35 24/04/24
Xetra DAX
18,088.70
17:00 24/04/24
Coeure’s comments weighed on the euro, which traded down at $1.1178, but lifted stocks. By 0910 BST, the Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 1.6% at 404.38, while the CAC was 1.9% higher at 5,105.52 and Germany’s Dax was up 1.7% at 11,795.49.
Coeure made the comments in a speech delivered on Monday at a conference in London.
The European session was also underpinned by a strong performance in the US, where the Dow and S&P 500 hit all-time highs on Monday as dovish comments from Federal Reserve member Charles Evans underpinned hopes that the Fed will hold off on any rate hikes for a while longer.
Greece was still firmly in focus on Tuesday. Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said in an interview with Star TV Channel on Monday that his government is “very close” to an agreement to unlock more creditor aid, but market participants are sceptical.
“A Greek bailout deal is still wayward as sentiment among creditors and observers remains unconvinced in stark contrast to the mood of the Greek government which is confident that talks are ‘in their final stage.’ Whether the outcome will be good or bad remains to be seen and depends on whom you ask,” said Michael Van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.
In corporate news, Unilever shares rose 1% after the company announced that its chief financial officer Jean-Marc Huet has decided to step down from his role after four and a half years, to be replaced by Graeme Pitkethly, the executive vice president of Unilever's UK and Ireland business.
Julius Baer gained 1% after the company reported a 1% drop in assets under management for the first four months of the year.
Vodafone bucked the trend, off 2% after posting a drop in adjusted operating profit and delivering a more cautious outlook than investors had expected.
Interdealer broker ICAP was also on the back foot after posting a 21% fall in full-year profit and saying it expect headwinds to continue.
In terms of sectors, car makers fared well after data showed that European car sales rose for a 20th consecutive month in April. BMW rose 2% while Daimler and Renault were up 3%.
On the economic front, investors are likely to eye the release of trade balance figures for the euro zone and the German ZEW survey at 1000 BST.
In the US, housing starts for April are due at 1330 BST.