European Markets Mostly Higher, Covestro Surges On Debut
Paris-France (Oct 6) The European markets were trading mixed on Tuesday afternoon, with the German, French and Swiss markets making moderate gains on the back of expectations that the Fed would not resort to an interest-rate hike this year. However, the UK market fell as miners traded weak.
In economic news, Germany's construction sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in six months in September, figures from Markit Economics showed. The seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 52.4 in September from 50.3 in the previous month.
Germany's factory orders declined in August as both domestic and foreign demand deteriorated from July, data from Destatis showed. Factory orders dropped 1.8% month-on-month in August, confounding expectations for a 0.5% rise.
Eurozone retail sales remained flat in August and private sector growth eased more-than-estimated in September, raising concerns over slowing economic growth momentum in the third quarter. Moreover, investor confidence weakened to an eight-month low in October as financial experts' current assessment and expectations deteriorated further.
UK house prices dropped unexpectedly in September, data from Lloyds Banking Group's Halifax division revealed. House prices slid 0.9% month-on-month in September, reversing August's 2.7% increase, which was the biggest monthly growth in 15 months.
Further, ECB President Mario Draghi is scheduled to speak in Frankfurt at 1.00 pm ET .
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks advanced 0.55%, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major UK companies, rose 0.30%.
The German DAX added 0.7% and the French CAC 40 gained 0.6%. Switzerland's SMI was higher by 0.5%. However, the FTSE 100 index of the UK fell marginally.
In Frankfurt , Daimler climbed around 2% after reporting increase in Mercedes-Benz deliveries. BMW and Volkswagen were rising 1.4% and 1%, respectively.
Sports goods giant Adidas also gained around 2%.
Meanwhile, RWE declined 5.3% and peer E.ON was losing 1.2%.
Bayer dropped 1.3%. Covestro AG , formerly known as Bayer MaterialScience , jumped 12% on its first day of trading.
In Paris , Renault climbed 3.8% and Peugeot added 1.6%.
Bouygues , which announced its profit targets, added 3.7%.
Vivendi yet again increased its stake in Telecom Italia SpA . The stock added 2.8%.
Bucking the trend, Vinci fell 1.2%. Cap Gemini , EDF, Legrand and Sanofi were in negative territory.
In London , Glencore fell 3%. Anglo American and Antofagasta lost 1.4% each.
SABMiller fell 2.4%. The brewer reported a 9% drop in second-quarter group net producer revenue. Further, a report said the company's management may fight a bid from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV .
WM Morrison Supermarkets gained about 2% and International Consolidated Airlines added 1.3%.
Wood Group gained 1.4%. The energy services company announced the appointment of Robin Watson as chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2016 .
SBM Offshore climbed 4.6% in Amsterdam . A potential fine for the company regarding an alleged bribery in Brazil came less than analysts had estimated.
The Asian stocks extended gains for a second consecutive session, with a bounce in oil and other commodity prices and strong overnight gains in the US and European markets supporting sentiment.
In the US, futures point to a lower open on Wall Street . In the previous session, the Dow climbed 1.9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.6%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.8%, rising for a fifth day in a row for the first time this year.
Crude for November delivery fell USD0.31 to USD45.95 per barrel, while December gold rose USD0.7 to USD1138.3 a troy ounce.
Source: RTTnews
