European Stocks Rise 0.7% Amid Earnings, Oil Prices Above $110
European stocks rose 0.7% on Tuesday, with the Stoxx 600 closing at 609.72 points, despite Brent crude oil prices exceeding $110 due to US-Iran tensions. Corporate earnings were supportive, though the Irish market and UK FTSE 100 saw declines. Technology and banking sectors across Europe advanced, while Wall Street also recovered.
European stocks rose on Tuesday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 closing up 0.7 per cent at 609.72 points, recovering from its largest monthly drop on Monday. This occurred despite elevated Brent crude oil prices, which remained above $110 (€94) a barrel due to US-Iran hostilities over the Strait of Hormuz, fueling inflation fears and expectations of more than two rate hikes by the European Central Bank this year.
The Irish Iseq All-Share index declined 1.5 per cent, as Ryanair fell 1.9 per cent to €22, AIB lost 1.8 per cent to €9.62, and Bank of Ireland slid 2 per cent to €16.40. Uniphar, however, gained 0.6 per cent to €4.19 after Davy analysts upgraded its earnings per share forecasts by 7-8 per cent for this year and next.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 slid 1.4 per cent. HSBC shares fell 5.9 per cent after reporting an unexpected $400 million (€342 million) loss from a fraud case. Travel stocks like Carnival (down 3.7 per cent) and IAG (down 1.6 per cent) also dropped due to higher fuel costs. Intertek jumped almost 6 per cent after reviewing a takeover bid from EQT AB, while BT Group climbed 1.7 per cent on a Bank of America upgrade. Vodafone dipped 2.2 per cent after agreeing to buy CK Hutchison’s stake in VodafoneThree for £4.3 billion (€4.98 billion).
Across Europe, the technology sector advanced 2.4 per cent, led by chip stocks. Anheuser-Busch InBev rose 9.3 per cent on strong quarterly sales and profits. UniCredit added 5.9 per cent after posting record quarterly profit and raising its full-year forecast, also launching a takeover offer for Commerzbank. The euro zone bank sector rose 1.9 per cent. Wall Street indexes also recovered, with Intel, Archer-Daniels-Midland, DuPont, and Pinterest seeing gains.