Europe midday: Equities in the black as investors mull over China GDP

European equity markets edged higher on Monday, underpinned by some well-received corporate news, as investors digested a slew of Chinese data releases.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 was 0.4% higher and Germany’s DAX was up 0.9%.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics said gross domestic product rose 6.9% in the third quarter compared with 7% in the first two quarters. This was better than the 6.8% forecast by economists but still the worst rate of growth since the first quarter of 2009.

Meanwhile, Chinese industrial production rose 5.7% in September, missing economists’ expectations of a 6% gain, while retail sales were up 10.9%, a touch ahead of the 10.8% increase expected.

“Overall, we see some nascent signs of growth stabilisation in the non-financial sector driven by fiscal stimulus but no evidence of a durable rebound in the coming months,” said Nomura.

“We continue to expect moderate fiscal stimulus from the central government and continued monetary easing, with one more bank reserve requirement ratio cut in the fourth quarter and another four in 2016 (each by 50 basis points), together with two more benchmark interest rate cuts (each by 25bp) in 2016.”

Data released by Eurostat earlier showed construction output suffered a sharp slowdown in August.

Seasonally-adjusted construction output in the euro bloc declined 0.2% month-on-month in August from an upwardly revised 0.4% gain in July.

On a year-on-year basis, construction output slumped 6% compared with an upwardly revised 0.3% decline in the previous month.

On the corporate front, Deutsche Bank rallied after it announced a reshuffle of its senior management and the splitting of its investment bank into two separate units as part of a strategic overhaul.

Shares in German retailer Metro advanced after it expressed optimism over the Christmas trading period.

French dairy company Danone gained after its third-quarter sales beat expectations, with revenue up 4.6% on a like-for-like basis.

On the downside, pharmaceutical company Shire fell despite its best efforts to reassure the market that its lifitegrast dry-eye treatment remains on track for planned launch next year, after revealing over the weekend that US regulators wanted to see more data.

ITV nudged a touch lower after agreeing to acquire Northern Irish broadcaster UTV Media’s television assets for £100m.

Still to come on the economic calendar, the NAHB housing market index is at 1500 BST.