European stocks rebound after last week's selloff, eyes on earnings and data
For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.
Split plan drives Embracer shares higher
Alstom up after North American unit sale to Knorr-Bremse
STOXX 600 up 0.6%
Updated at 1605 GMT
By Johann M Cherian and Sruthi Shankar
April 22 (Reuters) -European stocks closed higher on Monday, with British blue-chips nearing record levels as investors took comfort from easing tensions in the Middle East and looked ahead to earnings from European banks and U.S. tech giants later this week.
The continent-wide STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.6%, rebounding from last week's selloff triggered by geopolitical concerns as well as worries that the Federal Reserve will delay interest rate cuts.
The main European regional markets barring Italy .FTMIB rose on Monday, with Britain's commodity-heavy FTSE 100 .FTSE jumping 1.6% to near record highs, aided by a weaker pound and rising metal prices. .L
Traders also unwound their defensive positioning after Iran said that it had no plan to retaliate following an apparent Israeli drone attack within its borders.
"It's a bit of a messy picture for markets at the moment with huge uncertainty around events in the Middle East, US tech seeing its biggest sell-off for around 18 months, and with yields climbing as rate cuts gets increasingly pushed out," said Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid.
Earnings reports from European lenders will be in the spotlight this week as investors are likely to get a clearer picture of whether higher interest rates are still boosting profits or if a year-long share price rally will run out of steam.
Overall, quarterly earnings for STOXX 600 companies are expected to decline 12.1% from a year-ago period, according to LSEG data.
Bigger focus will be on earnings from some of Wall Street's biggest names including Alphabet GOOGL.O, Microsoft MSFT.O and Meta Platforms META.O as well as economic data from across the globe later this week.
French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Sunday tension in the Middle East is unlikely to drive up energy prices and should not affect the European Central Bank's plans to start cutting interest rates in June.
Greece's ATHEX index .ATG gained 2.0% after credit ratings agency S&P revised the country's outlook to "positive" from "stable".
Among single stocks, Portuguese oil firm Galp soared 20.6% to a 16-year high after it said its Mopane field off the coast of Namibia could have at least 10 billion barrels of oil. Sources told Reuters Galp has launched the sale of half of its stake in the exploration block that includes the Mopane field.
Shares of Alstom ALSO.PA gained 2.3% after the French train manufacturer agreed to sell its North American conventional rail signalling business to German rail systems manufacturer Knorr-Bremse AG KBX.DE for around 630 million euros ($671 million).
Embracer EMBRACb.ST said it plans to split into three separate listed companies, and that it has secured new financing that it will use to cut debt, sending shares of the Swedish gaming group higher by 8.6%.
Iveco IVG.MI dropped 2.2% after the automotive manufacturer said Chief Executive Officer Gerrit Marx is leaving to head Italian-American company CNH Industrial CNHI.N.
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
