Connect with us
Finance Digest is a leading online platform for finance and business news, providing insights on banking, finance, technology, investing,trading, insurance, fintech, and more. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

NEWS

European shares extend gains on financials but track weekly fall

Published On :

European shares extend gains on financials but track weekly fall

By Shristi Achar A

(Reuters) -European shares edged higher on Friday, lifted by financials, but the benchmark index remained on course for a weekly decline following tempered rate-cut expectations.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2% as of 1319 GMT, extending gains from the previous session.

Banks rose 0.5%, powered by a 3.2% jump in KBC Group after Morgan Stanley upgraded the Belgian integrated bank-insurance group to “overweight” from “equal-weight”.

Sweden’s Avanza jumped 2.6% and was among top performers on the index, after the financial services provider beat fourth-quarter market expectations.

Still, the benchmark index was on course for a weekly loss of around 1%, after hawkish remarks from European Central Bank policymakers prompted traders to rethink expectations for interest rate cuts. [0#ECBWATCH]

“The outlook for inflation is maybe a bit more sticky than perhaps we all hoped at the end of 2023, which doesn’t come as a huge surprise,” said James Baxter, founder of Tideway Wealth.

“So it was just a rather exuberant rally in bonds and drop in yields, which is now reversing and that’s taking some of the edge off the market rally.”

However, J.P.Morgan brought forward its first rate-cut expectations by the ECB to June from September, but said it remained “cautious” about inflation and wage growth trends.

On the data front, German producer prices fell more than expected in December, decreasing 8.6% year-on-year, although the blue-chip DAX 40 index was up 0.3%.

Separately, British retail sales suffered the biggest drop in almost three years during December, stoking concerns of a recession. The FTSE 100 index, however, advanced 0.4%.

Ericsson and Nokia were laggards, down 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively. Barclays downgraded the telecom equipment providers, warning of a slowdown in 5G roll out in India.

Technology stocks advanced for a second session, up 0.9%. Berenberg said it liked Europe’s technology, media and telecom sector and signalled an upside in 2024 from a macro rebound, generative artificial intelligence, and structural growth.

Among other major movers, Teleperformance gained 7.7% after Stifel upgraded the teleservices firm’s to “buy” from “hold”.

Temenos rose 3.2% after the Swiss banking software firm’s fourth-quarter and annual results beat estimates, with the stock hitting its highest level in more than a year.

(Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Continue Reading

Why pay for news and opinions when you can get them for free?

       Subscribe for free now!


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Recent Posts