Europe midday: Miners push Stoxx higher as Reddit focuses on silver
European shares were higher at midday on Monday as the the Reddit retail frenzy turned its attention to silver, with precious metals miners driving strong gains as a result.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was 1.45% a7 11.37 GMT, with shares of miners Fresnillo, Polymetal International, Boliden, Hochschild and Centamin all shining.
Glencore, BHP and Anglo-American were also higher as silver prices hit their highest levels since 2013, hitting $30 an ounce at one point. The metal has become the latest focus of a frenzied online movement by retail traders to push up values of assets that big fund managers had bet against.
Bourses across the Continent were also given impetus as data showed the recovery across the eurozone's manufacturing sector continued in January, despite the introduction of fresh lockdown measures.
The final IHS Markit eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for January was 54.8, down on December’s figure of 55.2 and a touch above the provisional estimate of 54.7.
The volatility inspired by ast week Reddit forum members boosting GameStop and other heavily shorted company stocks, "raised concerns about the fallout that may come about from well intentioned, but ill-informed political interventions" said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
"The passions being aroused by these events are also causing significant concerns about the wider implications about other areas of the market that might be over-leveraged, as the big unsustainable gains in these vulnerable stocks causes de-risking in other areas of the market.
Oil stocks lagged the market ahead of full year results later this week. BP announced the sale of a 20% stake in its Oman gas block program for $2.6bn as it continued its program of disposals to cut its debt pile towards its longer-term target of $35bn.
Shares in JD Sports jumped 5.92% after the company announced a conditional agreement to the purchase of Maryland based sportswear retailer DTLR for $495m, as it continues to boost its brand across the US.
Housebuilders were on the rise, with Barratt and Persimmon and Berkeley Group making strong gains.
Budget carrier Ryanair shares were slightly lower after the airline said it expects to lose close to €1bn euros in its current financial year.