Europe midday: Stocks in the black but Airbus slumps on SFO probe

European stocks pushed higher on Monday as investors shrugged off disappointing Chinese trade data amid rising expectations of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2%, Germany’s DAX was up 0.9% and France’s CAC 40 was 0.4% higher.

At the same time, oil prices were firmer. West Texas Intermediate was up 1.6% at $42.48 a barrel and Brent crude was 1.5% stronger at $44.92.

According to data released earlier by the General Admission of Customs, exports in China fell 4.4% in July, while imports declined 12.5%, both of which were worse than analysts had expected.

At the same time, investors were mulling over Friday’s strong non-farm payrolls report, which showed the US economy added 255,000 jobs last months versus forecasts of a 180,000 gain, boosting expectations of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year.

Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG, said: “Markets appear to still be enjoying ‘that Friday’ feeling, with steady gains across the UK and Europe, as the optimism from last week’s US job numbers continues to permeate. Eurozone stocks are doing particularly well, with hopes that further dollar strength will help to push down the euro and make life better for exporters, something that has already been seen today in Japanese stocks.

“An uneventful start to the week means that markets are still searching for fresh drivers, but for now the non-farm payrolls, which were encouraging on both the jobs and wages fronts, are sufficient unto the day.”

Corporate news was thin on the ground on Monday.

Dutch postal service PostNL rallied after well-received second-quarter results and confirmation of its outlook.

Barclays racked up healthy gains as Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ saying it remained its preferred large UK bank.

On the downside, Airbus was under pressure as the UK’s Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption at the company.

Shire edged lower after the drug maker confirmed its strong performance so far in 2016, as it completed two acquisitions and continued to grow its underlying business.