PARIS/LONDON (dpa-AFX) – On Tuesday, the desire to buy returned to investors on the European stock market. After a weak start, the EuroStoxx 50 (EURO STOXX 50) turned positive when there were signs of a positive start on the US stock exchanges. The rally was then bolstered by hopes that Russian gas supplies would resume following the Nord Stream 1 pipeline maintenance hiatus.
In the end, the EuroStoxx gained 2.15 percent to 3587.44 points, after having already lost 1.1 percent from the daily low reached earlier. The leading country indices also turned positive in Paris and London: the French CAC 40 rose by 1.79 percent to 6201.22 points, while the British FTSE 100 gained 1.01 percent to 7296.28 points.
Rumors swirled that distribution of Russian gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline could resume on schedule Thursday after scheduled maintenance work was completed. However, a sign that risk appetite was picking up again was a rapid recovery in the euro on speculation that the ECB might be planning a stronger hike of 0.5 percentage points on Thursday.
How big the pressure is was shown on Tuesday by new data. Inflation in the euro zone had accelerated further in June and once again reached a record level. Compared to the same month last year, consumer prices increased by 8.6 percent. Meanwhile, the focus also remained on the uncertainty of how things will continue in Italy with Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s personnel.
The sector picture also changed with the market environment: Initially, more defensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals or utilities were in demand, but ultimately more economically sensitive sectors took the lead due to the hope that the gas supply situation might not be as bad as feared. Above all, this applied to the car sector, which climbed to the top with 3.1 percent, just ahead of the banks with a price increase of 2.9 percent. Rapidly rising interest rates can also be an advantage for them in their day-to-day lending business.
Individually, the supplier EDF (EDF (Electricit de France)) was in focus. The shares of the French energy company, which have been suspended for a week, rose almost 15 percent on Tuesday. The French state wants to completely nationalize the highly indebted utility, in which it already holds 84 percent of the shares, and is offering twelve euros per share.
In the banking sector, UBS shares developed rather sluggishly, gaining only 0.5 percent in Zrich in the strong sector environment. Barclays had downgraded the major Swiss bank to “underweight” and lowered the price target to CHF 15. Analyst Amit Goel wrote that the wealth management of Swiss banks is likely to disappoint for the foreseeable future. UBS fell 1.1 percent.
In the broader auto sector, Swedish commercial vehicle maker Volvo (Volvo AB (B)) did well by saying that a slowdown in the global economy is not yet weighing on demand. The two stock classes are up about 3.5 percent each here in Stockholm. The truckmaker reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
However, some individual stocks remained among the losers: the French train manufacturer Alstom, for example, was one of them at a discount of 2.6 percent. The quarterly figures presented were not considered a stumbling block, but rather the group’s warning of challenges from inflation and the lack of electronic components.
In Switzerland, the shares of the inspection group SGS (SGS SA) were negative with a discount of 2.4 percent. In the course of the half-year figures, the company had missed the expectations with the operating result and the net profit. In addition, the company formulated the forecast for the operating margin for the full year a little more cautiously than in January