European shares on Friday rose to their highest in a week as strong earnings reports and a rally in miners boosted risk appetite at the end of a volatile month dominated by concerns about slowing global growth.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.7 percent, trimming its monthly decline to 1.2 percent. The index fell 0.6 percent for the week.
Friday’s rally lost some of its luster after Wall Street opened lower as Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc results weighed.
Photo: Bloomberg
Worries about faster interest rate hikes, Russian gas supplies, China’s COVID-19 lockdowns and lofty valuations in the US technology sector triggered sell-offs in global equities last month, with the STOXX 600 sinking to a one-month low at one point.
Miners rallied 2.5 percent on Friday as iron ore and copper prices rose after China vowed economic support, raising hopes for sustained demand.
The metals and mining index marked its first monthly decline in four as lockdowns in China weighed heavily, pushing the index down almost 10 percent from 14-year highs it scaled just last week.
“Higher commodity prices have helped stabilize industrial European stocks, and crucially the magic promise of Chinese stimulus has appeared, pushing up commodity prices and giving stocks across the continent a lift,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
Upbeat earnings reports also helped markets, with Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/Sgaining 5.4 percent after increasing its sales and operating profit outlook for the year.
French spirits group Remy Cointreau SA predicted a strong start to business in its first quarter to next month. Its shares rose 1.8 percent.
Analysts expect profit for STOXX 600 companies to grow 27.1 percent in the first quarter and 13.7 percent in the second quarter, as per Refinitiv IBES data, with the biggest boost coming from energy companies.
Eurozone economic growth was slower than expected in the first three months of the year, preliminary data showed, as the conflict in Ukraine hit economic activity.
Dutch chipmaking equipment supplier BE Semiconductor Industries NV slumped 9.2 percent after it said its order intake this year had been limited by lower demand for high-end smartphones and weakness in Chinese markets.
Dutch technology investor Prosus NV, which has a major stake in China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊), jumped 9 percent after a report said US and Chinese regulators were negotiating on-site audits in a key step to avoid US delistings of Chinese companies.
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