Traders work in front of the German share price index DAX board at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange yesterday.
LONDON: European stock markets rebounded to close sharply higher yesterday on encouraging Chinese trade data after Fed stimulus fears had led to exaggerated sell-offs a day earlier, traders said.
London’s FTSE 100 index finished the session 0.28 percent higher at 6,529.68 points and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added 0.70 percent after a string of positive company earnings announcements to end at 8,318.32 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 advanced 0.64 percent to 4,064.32 points — its highest level this year.
“After yesterday’s slide Europe’s markets have regained an element of equilibrium today, helped by some better than expected Chinese trade data which showed that both imports and exports experienced a recovery in July,” CMC Markets UK analyst Michael Hewson said. Trade on Wednesday was driven by comments from Federal Reserve officials indicating a likely quick pullback of the US stimulus, which sparked sell-offs.
Yesterday’s rebound came after Chinese government data showed that imports and exports in the world’s second-biggest economy China’s imports made an unexpected jump in July.
The mining sector profited from the news, with Anglo American rising 4.3 percent to 1,454.5 pence and Antofagasta adding 3.8 percent to 876,5 pence. France’s Eramet won 2.14 percent to ¤66.91.
Rio Tinto gained 2.13 percent to close at 3,016.5 pence despite reporting a 71-percent slump in first-half net profit, but which proved to be better than what the market had expected. Steel giant ArcelorMittal increased 4.08 percent to ¤9.63.
The euro rose to $1.3391 from $1.3334 late in New York on Wednesday. The dollar slipped to 95.95 yen from 96.39 yen.
Sterling, meanwhile, steadied against the European single currency yesterday, a day the British currency hit a one-month high point. Sterling was at 86.10 pence to the euro from 86.78 on Wednesday, and was at $1.5553 from $1.5531.
In the US, stocks on Wall Street were mostly higher, boosted in part by US weekly jobless claims data. Although new claims edged higher last week from the previous period, reaching 333,000 from 328,000, the four-week moving average continued to push lower. In midday deals, the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.08 percent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.37 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, fell by 0.11 percent.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold climbed to $1,298.25 an ounce from $1,282.50 on Wednesday.
Germany’s second-biggest bank, Commerzbank, surprised the market with better-than-expected results and shares climbed 15.7 percent to ¤7.65. Deutsche Telekom rose 7.71 percent to ¤9.75 on its push into the US market. In London, Aviva surged 7.6 percent to 399.00 pence after the British insurer announced a return to profits in the first half as it continues with signficant restructuring of the group. AFP
