UPDATE 1-European shares rise, Germany lags after industrial orders data

Reuters · 02/05/2021 09:13
UPDATE 1-European shares rise, Germany lags after industrial orders data

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German orders fall for first time in eight months

Banks, tech, travel & leisure lead sectoral gains

STOXX 600 set for best week since November

Sanofi rises on stronger-than-expected Q4 results

Adds comments, bullets, background; Updates prices throughout

By Shreyashi Sanyal

- European stocks rose on Friday, tracking an upbeat sentiment from Wall Street on hopes of a faster global economic recovery, while Frankfurt shares lagged after data showed a decline in industrial orders.

The STOXX 600 .STOXX gained 0.4% and was set for its longest winning streak since late December. The index was also up 3.7% for the week, on track for its best weekly performance since November.

Markets around the world were higher on expectations of a large stimulus by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, while a pause in the Reddit-driven retail trading frenzy also helped lift investor sentiment. MKTS/GLOB

"Global markets are now revisiting a familiar script, with investors pushing broad asset classes higher on more signs pointing to the U.S. economic recovery," said Han Tan, market analyst at FXTM.

Germany's DAX index .GDAXI was flat after data showed orders for German-made goods fell more than expected in December, ending a seven-month streak of positive data as restrictions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic dragged down demand from other euro zone countries. nL8N2KB1KV

"Today's data shows that stricter lockdown measures since mid-December, as well as the Christmas break, have finally hit German industry ... but at face value, this only looks like a temporary breather," strategists at ING wrote in a note.

Most European sector indexes were trading higher, with banks .SX7P, travel and leisure .SXTP and technology shares .SX8P leading the advance, suggesting a risk-on trading environment.

With the reporting season underway, investors also parsed through earnings reports from European companies.

Sanofi SA SASY.PA gained 2% as the French drugmaker said it aimed to grow earnings per share this year after posting stronger-than-expected quarterly results. nL8N2KA79I

Swedish builder Skanska SKAb.ST fell 3.2% on cutting its outlook for the Swedish non-residential building market as it posted slightly lower quarterly profits than expected, while proposing an extra dividend to shareholders. nL8N2KB18P

Shares in Vinci SGEF.PA rose 5.3% and were the top boost to the STOXX 600, after Europe's biggest construction and concessions company beat full-year core profit forecasts, helped by some recovery in its contracting business. nL8N2KB1M5

Finnish oil refiner Neste NESTE.HE fell 5.2%, to the bottom of the STOXX 600, after it issued a weak first-quarter outlook and unexpectedly cut dividend. nL8N2KB227

In deal-making, RTL Group RRTL.DE jumped 7.8% after U.S. advertising platform Magnite MGNI.O agreed to buy the European broadcaster's video advertising group SpotX for $1.17 billion. nL8N2KB1MP


(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

((Shreyashi.Sanyal@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8780; +91 961 144 3740; Twitter: https://twitter.com/s_shreyashi))