Markets in Europe were higher midday Monday, extending gains seen across and Asia.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was firmly in the black, with the majority of sectors and all major bourses trading in positive territory. The region followed Asia in piggybacking off Wall Street’s strong performance late last week when U.S. June employment data emerged stronger than expected.
Technology stocks was among the best performing sectors, trading up by almost a percent, as investors regained faith in the sector following a brief lull earlier in the month. Banks on the other hand dipped by midday deals, having been trading higher at the start of the session. Lloyds Bank, Banco Santander and Metro Bank were some of the stocks to slip lower.
The oil and gas sector was trading higher in midday deals after a choppy morning as investors focused on a major oil conference in Istanbul. Early Monday, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco told delegates he is “increasingly worried” by the long-term oil situation and announced plans to invest more than $300 billion over the next decade to reinforce the company’s “preeminent position in oil.” At the same time, BNP Paribas cut its Brent average price forecast by $9 to $51 per barrel for 2017 and by $15 to $48 per barrel for 2018.
Oil prices, which had previously been in the black, slumped more than a percent following the comments. Brent oil dropped 1.18 percent from $46.78 per barrel to $46.78, while U.S. crude fell 1.27 percent from $44.30 per barrel to $43.67.
The dip had a knock on effect for basic resources, which was down eight-tenths of a percent.
Looking at individual stocks, Air France-KLM was up nearly 3 percent in early deals after reporting strong second-quarter bookings — an indication that interest in the French holiday market may be returning after a lull prompted by security concerns last year. However, it quickly fell back to trade up just 0.28 percent.
Sweden’s Alfa Laval was up 2.4 percent after receiving a rating upgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Meanwhile, Lufthansa was trading lower by 0.34 percent after UBS cut its rating of the business from “buy” to “neutral”.
Mail and e-commerce company Postnl jumped to the top of the benchmark, up 4.11 percent. Meanwhile Balfour Beatty slumped 2.6 percent after signing a deal to work almost exclusively with three consultants over the next five years.
Monday sees euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels for a Eurogroup meeting and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will visit British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Also on the agenda, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be in Istanbul to meeting with the Turkish government to discuss bilateral and regional issues. This comes as the city saw a major anti-government protest rally on Sunday.
World leaders met over the weekend in Hamburg at the 12th annual G-20 talks, during which global issues such as trade, climate change and defense were discussed. During the talks, President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time and discussed forming “an impenetrable cybersecurity unit” – an idea he has since retracted. Reports later emerged suggesting that Trump’s son was involved in meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer to discuss damaging information on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s electoral bid came under pressure after protests broke out in the German port city, injuring more than 200 police officers. The chancellor is hoping running for her fourth term in September’s general election.
Source: Tech CNBC
Europe moves higher following G-20 talks; Eurogroup meeting eyed; oil slumps