Europe open: Stocks bounce on strong June PMIs
Airbus Group N.V.
€162.22
17:19 24/04/24
Stocks have started the morning moving higher, buoyed by a much-better-than-expected reading on the euro area services sector, alongside a bounce in oil prices, as traders wait on the results of the OPEC meeting which was already ongoing.
CAC 40
8,091.86
16:59 24/04/24
DJ EURO STOXX 50
5,008.17
23:59 23/04/24
Contrary to economists' forecasts, IHS Markit's widely-followed 'composite' Purchasing Managers' Index for Eurozone services and manufacturing jumped from a reading of 54.1 in May to 54.8 (consensus: 53.8).
Critically, although the factory sector PMI dropped from 54.8 to 54.3 - plumbing a 19-month low - on the back of political and trade uncertainty, it was offset by a rise in the services PMI from 53.8 to 55.0 - a four-month high.
Commenting on those readings, Chris Williamson at IHS said: "While the June upturn provides some hope that the weakening of official data earlier in the year may have overstated the region's weakness, the risks remained tilted towards a further slowdown in the second half of the year."
Against that backdrop, as of 0931 BST the benchmark Stoxx 600 was adding 0.45% o 1.17 points to 382.54, alongside a rise of 0.55% or 29.37 points to 5,345.06 for the Cac-40 and a jump on the FTSE Mibtel of 0.96% or 208.01 points to 21,877.52.
Germany's Dax meanwhile was a relative laggard, advancing by 0.41% or 50.64 points to 12,559.07.
In parallel, front month Brent crude oil futures were rising by 1.244% to $73.97 a barrel on the ICE, amid speculation that OPEC+ countries were set to decide on a combined output increase of between 0.5m-1.0m barrels a day.
Elsewhere, according to reports in the Spanish Press, Europe's Finance Commissioner, the French Socialist Pierre Moscovici, had reportedly mooted the possibility of relaxing the fiscal targets for the new Socialist government in Madrid.
On the corporate front meanwhile, shares of Airbus were in the spotlight after the civilian and military air and space manufacturer said that a 'no deal' Brexit would result in the "severe disruption and interruption of UK production."
In particular, the Toulouse-based jet-maker said that even a 'transition deal' would prove "too short" for the company to make the "required changes with its extensive supply chain."
To take note of, overnight ratings agency Fitch revised down its outlook for Deutsche Bank's long-term credit rating, from 'stable' to 'negative'.
Also in Germany, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems said it was planning 10,000 layoffs.