{"id":6753,"date":"2021-01-26T18:31:47","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T18:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2021\/01\/26\/major-european-markets-close-higher-as-focus-shifts-to-earnings-fed-policy-meet\/"},"modified":"2021-01-26T18:31:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T18:31:47","slug":"major-european-markets-close-higher-as-focus-shifts-to-earnings-fed-policy-meet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2021\/01\/26\/major-european-markets-close-higher-as-focus-shifts-to-earnings-fed-policy-meet\/","title":{"rendered":"Major European Markets Close Higher As Focus Shifts To Earnings, Fed Policy Meet"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\n<\/p>\n

\n

Despite worries about surging coronavirus<\/span> cases, delay in vaccine supplies, political uncertainty in Italy and rising U.S.-China tensions, European stocks moved higher on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Investors were focusing on earnings news and the upcoming monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.63%. Germany’s DAX surged up 1.66%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.93% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.23% up, while Switzerland’s SMI gained 0.35%.<\/p>\n

Among other markets<\/span> in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine ended with sharp to moderate gains.<\/p>\n

Netherlands edged up marginally, while Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Portugal and Russia closed weak.<\/p>\n

In the German markets, SAP, Linde, Adidas, Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, Covestro, Thyssenkrupp, Lufthansa, Continental, Fresenius, Deutsche Bank and Siemens gained 1.5 to 4.2%. Infineon Technologies and RWE ended notably lower.<\/p>\n

In France, Unibail Rodamco and Air France-KLM both ended stronger by over 4%. Renault, Atos, Air Liquide, Kering, Societe Generale, ArcelorMittal, Sodexo, Valeo, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Orange and Safran gained 1.5 to 3.2%.<\/p>\n

In the UK market, Pearson surged up more than 6%. Compass Group gained 4.5% and Johnson Matthey ended nearly 4% up, while ICP, Informa, British Land Company, Aveva Group, Burberry Group, 3i Group, Aviva, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and Standard Life moved up 1.6 to 3.2%.<\/p>\n

M&G, Just Eat Takeaway, Whitbread, Reckitt Benckiser and Bunzl lost 2 to 4%. Rolls Royce recovered after a sharp fall, but still ended the session with a loss of about 1.7%. The stock tumbled after the company warned of significant uncertainty over the “precise shape and timing of the recovery in air traffic”.<\/p>\n

JD Sports Fashion declined nearly 4% after the company announced that it is exploring additional funding options with a view to increasing its flexibility to invest in future strategic opportunities and that this may involve a non-pre-emptive equity placing.<\/p>\n

Swiss lender UBS shares rose sharply after the bank reported a surge in quarterly net profit and said it plans to buy back as much as 4 billion francs ($4.5 billion) of shares over the next three years.<\/p>\n

Swedish buyout group EQT AB soared 14.5% after it agreed to take over global real estate investment manager Exeter Property Group.<\/p>\n

In economic news, the U.K. unemployment rate increased and the employment rate continued to decline in three months to November, labor force survey results from the Office for National Statistics showed.<\/p>\n

The jobless rate rose 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter to 5% in three months to November. The expected rate was 5.1%. At the same time, the employment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points sequentially to 75.2%. Employment decreased by 88,000 on the quarter.<\/p>\n

Survey results from the Confederation of British Industry showed UK retailers posted the weakest sales since May 2020 amid lockdown restrictions. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n