European Markets Follow Asia Higher
Brussels (Sept 9) The European markets jumped on Wednesday, tracking firm cues from Asia and Wall Street overnight, as investors chose to ignore an unexpected fall in UK industrial and manufacturing output.
The Asian stocks rallied, tracking strong gains in the US and European markets overnight, as positive European GDP data and Beijing's relentless efforts to prop up the stock market boosted investors' appetite for riskier assets.
In the US, futures point to a higher open on Wall Street . In the previous session, stocks rose sharply as investors returned from a holiday weekend. The Dow rallied 2.4%, the Nasdaq advanced 2.7% and the S&P 500 climbed 2.5%.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks added 2.2%, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major UK companies, rose 2.4%.
The German DAX, the French CAC 40, the FTSE 100 index of the UK and Switzerland's SMI were gaining between 1.7% and 2.3%.
In Frankfurt , Daimler and BMW climbed 3.2% each, and Volkswagen rose 2.7%. Morgan Stanley raised BMW to "Overweight" from "Equalweight." Tire maker Continental was up 2.7%.
HeidelbergCement added 2.7%, and Deutsche Telekom gained around 2%.
Insurer Allianz and specialty chemicals firm Lanxess rose 1.8% each.
In Paris , hotel group Accor climbed around 5%, thus leading the gainers.
Renault jumped 4.5% and Peugeot added 3.5%. Car parts maker Valeo rose around 4%.
LVMH and Airbus gained 3.4% and 3.2%, respectively.
In London , Anglo American climbed 7.1% and Glencore added 5.1%. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were gaining 5% and 4.2%, respectively.
HSBC and Standard Chartered gained around 3% each.
Ryanair climbed around 7% after the Irish airline lifted its forecast for 2016.
Volvo gained 3.2% in Stockholm , following a positive broker recommendation.
Swiss engineering firm ABB lowered its revenue growth target for 2015-2020, reflecting reduced macroeconomic expectations. However, the company reaffirmed all other targets for profitability. The stock rose moderately in Zurich .
Data released by the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK industrial and manufacturing output dropped unexpectedly in July. Industrial output dropped 0.4% on a monthly basis, confounding expectations for a marginal growth of 0.1%. Manufacturing output declined 0.8%, while economists had expected it to grow 0.2%.
UK visible trade deficit widened for a second straight month in July to its biggest level in a year, exceeding economists' expectations, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. The deficit in the trade in goods rose to 11.082 billion pounds from 8.507 billion pounds in June. Economists had forecast a 9.5 billion pounds shortfall.
Crude for October delivery fell USD0.51 to USD45.43 per barrel, while December gold dropped USD1.6 to USD1119.4 a troy ounce.
Source: AllianceNews
