Europe open: Shares fall again, China data mixed; Richemont surges

European shares continued in downbeat mood on Friday after losses a day earlier snapped a nine-day winning streak, while luxury goods maker Richemont surged despite a fall in fourth-quarter sales.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.23% to 522.39 with major bourses lower bar Spain’s IBEX 35 which was up 0.05%.

In economic news, The Chinese central bank moved again to help the struggling property sector on Friday by relaxing lending rules, as data showed house prices in major cities fell last month.

First-time buyers will now have to put down a minimum 15% deposit from a previous 20%, the People’s Bank of China (PboC) said. Minimum interest rates on mortgages were also scrapped.

The property sector has been creaking due to massive oversupply of apartments that now lie empty.

In a separate data dump, industrial production in the world’s second-largest economy rose more than expected in April to 6.7% year on year, according to official data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The rise beat forecast of 5.5% and March’s 4.5% increase.

However, it was a different picture on the retail sales front, where 2.3% growth from April last year was well below the forecast 3.7%.

Fixed asset investment rose 4.2% for the first four months of the year, lower than the 4.6% expected increase.

In equity news, Richemont gained 5% after record annual sales but also confirmed that the luxury sector was stagnating as the Cartier jewellery owner posted a 1% drop in fourth quarter sales.

Insurer Scor fell after it missed forecasts during the first quarter of 2024 with its combined ratio deteriorating by 1.9 percentage points year on year to 87.1 percent.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com