PARIS/LONDON (dpa-AFX) – Europe’s stock markets continued to rise on Tuesday. The Eurozone-Leading index EuroStoxx 50 (EURO STOXX 50) reached its highest level since the beginning of August. At the end, the index recorded an increase of 0.86 percent to 4,452.77 points. The major country stock exchanges also performed strongly: the French CAC 40 rose by 0.74 percent to 7,386.99 points. The Spanish Ibex 35 index reached a high since May 2018, the German DAX (DAX 40) even reached a record high.
There was a tailwind from the prospect of an end to interest rate hikes in the eurozone. ECB Director Isabel Schnabel described further interest rate hikes as unlikely given the recent decline in inflation. Schnabel is considered a supporter of a tight system monetary policywhich is why their statements were seen as an indication of stable key interest rates.
Bucking the general upward trend, the British FTSE 100 fell by 0.31 percent to 7,489.84 points. The shares of the large mining companies, which came under pressure due to falling prices for industrial metals such as copper and nickel, had a negative impact here.
“One man’s joy, another man’s sorrow” was the motto in the telecommunications equipment industry. At Nokia and Ericsson (Ericsson (Telephone AB LMEricsson) (B)) the previous day’s development continued on Tuesday. The shares of the Finnish network supplier were under pressure with a discount of around 6 percent, while the shares of the Swedish competition were in demand with a profit of around 6 percent. The trigger was a major order from the US telecommunications provider AT&T, in which the Swedes were given preference over the Finns. The contract has a volume of 14 billion dollars (12.9 billion euros) over a period of five years.
For Ericsson, the order is an important step in further expanding its ties with AT&T. The Swedes already account for around two thirds of the American network. The other third comes from Nokia. The Finns are now expecting a loss of sales in their network business with the Americans.
Roche (Roche) extended the previous day’s gains with a premium of almost 2 percent. The pharmaceutical company had achieved a study success in the treatment of breast cancer. However, as other heavyweights such as Novartis weakened, the pharmaceutical sector (STOXX EU600 Health Care) fell.
Meanwhile, real estate stocks were the favorites. The Stoxx Europe 600 Real Estate industry index has reached another recovery high since March of this year. After being 15 percent in the red for 2023 in October, it is now up a good seven percent. Meanwhile, the outlook for the interest rate-sensitive sector has improved, wrote Goldman Sachs analyst Jonathan Kownator in an industry outlook. From the second quarter onwards, Goldman Sachs economists expected interest rate cuts in Europe./bek/jha/