Europe midday: Shares move ahead as Allegro purchase pleases
European shares hit fresh highs at midday on Friday, as investors took heart from dovish responses to rate rises by central bankers this week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.22% in early trade while the French CAC breached the 7,000 mark for the first time with a 0.62% rise. Traders were also eyeing the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls report later Friday.
Germany's DAX was just about in positive territory as order growth in German factories undershot economists' forecasts in September, despite solid readings for auto and capital goods orders.
According to the Federal Office of Statistics, in seasonally and calendar-adjusted terms, new manufacturing orders grew at a month-on-month pace of 1.3% against a consensus of 1.8%.
In economic news, eurozone retail sales dropped unexpectedly in September as German shoppers stayed at home, preliminary Eurostat data showed.
The seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade decreased by 0.3% compared to August. Compared to the previous year, retail sales were up 2.5%. Most analysts had expected an increase of retail sales of around 0.3% from August.
Elsewhere, investors have taken heart from ECB comments that interest rate rises have been put on hold and the surprise decision by the Bank of England not to raise its lending rate, despite signals to the contrary.
However, concerns about the Chinese property market and debt-laden developers have tempered enthusiasm for equities.
In company news, Polish e-commerce group Allegro gained 5% after the company agreed to buy Czech online retailer Mall Group for €881m to create a regional platform in what would be its first significant international deal.
Shares in British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia owner IAG fell as the company warned of a €3bn annual loss.
Polish grocery chain Dino Polska plunged 7.64% after third quarter net profits came in lower than expectations.
Shares of British e-commerce firm THG climbed 6.3% in early trade after non-executive director Zillah Byng-Thorne purchased more than 32,000 of the company’s shares.
Spain’s CaixaBank also edged up after selling its 9.92% stake in Austrian bank Erste Group for 1.503 billion euros. Erste added 5%.