Europe midday: Shares rally after weak morning as US futures advance
European shares rallied by midday Tuesday as US futures indicated a rebound on Wall Street after reports of a spending slowdown at tech giant Apple hit sentiment.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.52% in early deals with all major continental bourses lower. US markets were hit by a late sell off overnight as on reports Apple was planning to slow hiring and spending into 2023 in a number of key areas.
"Quite apart from the company’s influence given its size - its market value is currently over $2.4 trillion - it is also seen as a strong indicator of consumer spending intentions," said Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter.
"The news sent its shares down by over 2%, but equally importantly provided another stark reminder of the fact that corporates could be feeling the squeeze against a backdrop of high inflation and tightening margins."
In the UK, official data showed that employment picked up in the three months to May but real pay fell at the fastest rate since records began.
Average total pay growth was 6.2%, down from 6.8% in April, while regular pay growth excluding bonuses was 4.3%, up a touch from 4.2%. Adjusted for inflation, however, total pay fell by 0.9% and regular pay was down 2.8% - the biggest fall since records began in 2001.
The data also showed that the unemployment rate was steady at 3.8% in the three months to May.
Meanwhile, the number of people in employment rose by 296,000. This was well ahead of consensus expectations of 170,000 and marked the biggest jump since the three months to August 2021.
In equity news, French power company EDF surged after the release of a €9.7bn nationalisation plan and upbeat corporate earnings.
Informa shares gained 4% as the company backed full-year expectations and hailed strong first-half revenues.
Shares in cyber security company Darktrace jumped after the firm said it expected full-year core earnings margins to be above expectations, as customer numbers increased.