{"id":9546,"date":"2021-05-07T18:15:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T18:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2021\/05\/07\/european-markets-close-higher-on-strong-earnings-recovery-hopes\/"},"modified":"2021-05-07T18:15:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T18:15:32","slug":"european-markets-close-higher-on-strong-earnings-recovery-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2021\/05\/07\/european-markets-close-higher-on-strong-earnings-recovery-hopes\/","title":{"rendered":"European Markets Close Higher On Strong Earnings, Recovery Hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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European markets<\/span> closed on a firm note on Friday, buoyed by some upbeat earnings announcements and eurozone economic data. <\/p>\n

U.S. jobs data disappointed as the economy<\/span> added less jobs than expected, and unemployment rose, but then, the weak data helped raise hopes that the Fed will continue to keep rates near zero for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.89%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.76%, Germany’s DAX advanced 1.34% and France’s CAC 40 ended 0.45% up, while Switzerland’s SMI gained 0.56%.<\/p>\n

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with strong gains. <\/p>\n

Greece and Iceland drifted lower.<\/p>\n

In the UK market, Ocado Group, Anglo American Plc, Glencore, Compass Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, IAG, Intermediate Capital Group, Barclays Group, Auto Trader Group, Avast, Sainsbury(J), Informa and Pearson gained 2 to 4%.<\/p>\n

BMW ended higher after reiterating its full-year profit margin outlook. Shares of aerospace engineer Meggitt soared more than 8% after reports that it could be a takeover target.<\/p>\n

In the French market, Air France-KLM moved up more than 4%. Sodexo, STMicroElectronics, ArcelorMittal, Atos, Airbus Group, Faurecia, Michelin, Safran, WorldLine and Valeo gained 1.5 to 3%.<\/p>\n

Among the losers, AXA plunged nearly 6%. Credit Agricole shares declined despite the bank posting a strong trading performance for the first quarter as provisions for potential credit losses fell.<\/p>\n

Thales, Renault and Publicis Groupe ended with moderate losses.<\/p>\n

In Germany, Adidas surged up more than 8% as the company raised its 2021 sales outlook despite ongoing lockdowns in Europe. Siemens gained in strength after lifting its revenue and profit guidance for the year.<\/p>\n

Infineon Technologies, MTU Aero Engines, Siemens, Lufthansa, RWE, Continental and Munich RE also rose sharply, while Heidelberg Cement and Covestro closed notably lower.<\/p>\n

In economic releases, German industrial production grew 2.5% month-on-month in March, reversing a 1.9% fall in February, Destatis reported.<\/p>\n

Output was forecast to climb 2.3%. On a yearly basis, industrial production advanced 5.1%, in contrast to a 6.8% fall in February.<\/p>\n

Another report revealed that German exports increased 1.2% on a monthly basis in March, while economists had forecast the growth to ease to 0.5% from 1% in February. Year-on-year, exports advanced 16.1%, reversing a 1.2% fall in February.<\/p>\n

France’s industrial and manufacturing production recovered in March, figures from the statistical office Insee showed. Industrial output grew 0.8% month-on-month, reversing a 4.8% drop in February. However, this was weaker than the economists’ forecast of 2%.<\/p>\n

In the manufacturing sector, production rose 0.4% after falling 4.8% a month ago.<\/p>\n

The UK construction sector logged a robust growth in April with continued recoveries seen in civil engineering activity, commercial work and house building, survey results from IHS Markit showed.<\/p>\n

The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply construction Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 61.6 in April, down only fractionally from March’s six-and-a-half year peak of 61.7.<\/p>\n

Switzerland’s jobless rate decreased in April, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed. The jobless rate fell a seasonally to 3.1% in April from 3.3% in March. Economists had expected a rate of 3.3%.<\/p>\n

On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate fell to 3.3% in April from 3.4% in the previous month. This was in line with economists’ expectation.<\/p>\n

In news from the U.S., the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 266,000 jobs in April after surging by a downwardly revised 770,000 jobs in March. Economists had expected employment to spike by 978,000 jobs compared to the jump of 916,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n

The report also showed the unemployment rate inched up to 6.1% in April from 6% in March, while economists had expected the unemployment rate to drop to 5.8%. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n