European stock markets: Indexes continue to rise – Stoxx best performance since November – Financial Post

European stock markets continued their recovery for a second day. European shares recorded their best performance in more than nine months as global markets continued their rally, leaving behind Monday’s sell-off, with all indicators moving in the positive.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended the session up 1.56 percent, its best daily performance since Nov. 2, 2023, according to LSEG data, cited by CNBC. France’s CAC 40 jumped 1.9 percent, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.75 percent and Germany’s DAX rose 1.47 percent.

Wall Street Continues to Rise – Dow Jones Up 400 Points

Banks ‘sparked’ European stock markets

In individual sectors, the banking index jumped 2.7% and recorded its best daily gain in more than a year, after losing 11% over the past five days, which helped the broader rise in European stocks.

Bank stocks have been shaken this month by a slide in global equities and the prospect of lower interest rates, along with a mixed earnings season in which HSBC and Standard Chartered shined while Deutsche Bank fell.

The sector’s gains came despite Germany’s Commerzbank falling 3.7% even as it reported second-quarter net profit above consensus expectations.

The European Central Bank could continue to cut interest rates if confidence in the near-term trend of slowing inflation strengthens, ECB policymaker Olli Rehn said in a speech on Wednesday. “Inflation remains moderate, but the path to the 2% target remains bumpy this year,” he said, adding that rate cuts would help the euro zone economy recover, especially “fragile” industrial growth and weak investment.

Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti also said the government has no plans to impose additional taxes on bank profits.

Also, economic data showed a higher-than-expected increase in German industrial production in June, a day after upbeat industrial orders gave Europe’s largest economy some hope as it faces a potential recession.

On the dashboard

Among the biggest movers was Novo Nordisk, which posted its biggest daily decline since August 2022, down -6.7%, after disappointing earnings forecasts and weaker-than-expected sales of its weight-loss drug Wegovy, raising concerns about increased competition from Eli Lilly.

Shares of German sportswear maker Puma fell 10.8% after it cut its full-year core earnings forecast.

Roche shares rose 3 percent on a report that the Swiss drugmaker is considering selling cancer data company Flatiron Health.

Just Eat Takeaway shares jumped 13% after JPMorgan upgraded the online food delivery company to overweight from neutral.

Continental shares rose 6.8% on better-than-expected results and guidance for a stronger second half.

Maersk shares fell 2.3 percent after second-quarter results, with analysts citing higher capital spending guidance as a negative factor. It also expects global container shipping growth to slow from a strong start to the year.

AXA ‘touches’ but falls short of 1,400 points – second straight day of gains

The Athens Stock Exchange moved in the same vein. In particular, the general index closed up 1.94% to 1,394.29 points with a turnover of 103.23 million euros. In fact, it reached the highest point of the day at 1,399.33 units, but without being able to hold it. The stock market reaction in the last two sessions covered a large part (+3.96%) of Monday’s 6.27% decline, while 3.3 billion euros of the “lost” 6 billion euros were recovered, in terms of capitalization.

The Amman Stock Exchange’s trajectory today reflects the general upward trend observed in global markets, after the “Black Monday”, as all major Asian, European and American indices are moving positively.

Among the high-cap stocks, the biggest increases were recorded by Aegean Airlines (+5.32%), Autohelas (+4.74%), Motor Oil (+4.59%), GEK Terna (+4.19%) and Piraeus (+3.89%). Conversely, Coa Cola HBC (-1.02%) and OTE (-0.68%) shares decreased.