PARIS/LONDON (dpa-AFX) – Europe’s stock exchanges rose moderately on Friday. But it wasn’t enough for new highs after the ECB President the day before Christine Lagarde had dampened investors’ euphoria in view of the interest rate cut signals from the USA.
Nevertheless, “the stock market world is now more than fine,” and there are many indications that the central banks are managing a “soft landing for the economy,” said market analyst Konstantin Oldenburger from broker CMC Markets. He also referred to the big expiry date on the futures exchanges that day. Options and futures on stocks and stock indices expired there. Against this background, investors probably no longer wanted to get involved, so the question arises as to whether the books have already been closed for this year after the brilliant profits.
The EuroStoxx 50 (EURO STOXX 50) ended the day with a small increase of 0.23 percent to 4549.44 points and thus remained below the high reached the previous day in 2001. The weekly increase is only 0.6 percent, but Starting from the most recent low in October, the gain for the Euroregion stock market barometer is now almost 14 percent.
The French leading index CAC 40 rose by 0.28 percent to 7,596.91 points on Friday after surpassing its record high reached in the middle of the week the day before. The London FTSE 100 fell by 0.95 percent to 7,576.36 points before the weekend.
In Paris, Atos (Atos SE) shares rallied on speculation about a partial sale. Ultimately it went up by 20.5 percent. The newspaper “Le Figaro” reported that the aircraft manufacturer Airbus (Airbus SE (ex EADS)) had its eye on the big data, cybersecurity and supercomputer (BDS) business area. Negotiations are currently underway, it said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Campari (Davide Campari-Milano) lost 2.9 percent. The spirits maker will take over cognac maker Beam Suntory and pay at least $1.2 billion. That would be the most expensive purchase the Italians have ever made.
An interim report helped shares of H&M (HennesMauritz AB (HM, H&M)) reach a high since July before closing lower, up 0.5 percent. The clothing chain’s sales in the months from September to November fell short of expectations. However, analyst James Grzinic from Jefferies pointed out that the decline was nowhere near as severe as in the previous quarter.
With a loss of 2.5 percent, Nokia (Nokia) suffered at the bottom of the EuroStoxx from a negative study by the US bank Citigroup. Analyst Andrew Gardiner downgraded the network equipment provider’s paper by two levels from “Buy” to “Sell”. According to him, Nokia is facing another difficult year.
UBS commented on STMicro (STMicroelectronics) and now recommends purchasing the semiconductor manufacturer’s shares. The short to medium-term challenges have already been more than adequately priced in, it said. Thanks to its strong focus on the electric vehicle and driver assistance systems business, STMicro is well positioned to withstand the upcoming downturn in business with the traditional auto industry. The share rose by 2.7 percent in Paris./ck/men