Europe midday: Stocks push up as travel and leisure issues recover
European equity markets rose on Wednesday, with Credit Suisse among the gainers as investors welcomed the bank’s latest cost-cutting efforts and travel stocks back in the black.
At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.5%, Germany’s DAX was 1.2% higher and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.6%.
Travel and leisure issues recovered from the previous day’s losses; Thomas Cook pushed up 2.7%, Ryanair added 1.7%, InterContinental Hotels gained 1.1%, EasyJet rose 0.7%, Accor edged up 0.4%.
At the same time, oil prices were lower as investors eyed the release of US crude oil inventories later in the session amid ongoing concerns about oversupply. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.9% to $41.09 a barrel and Brent crude was off 0.6% at $41.54..
“European markets continue to show remarkable resilience in the face of yesterday's terrorist attacks, moving higher in early trade and continuing their defiant stance from yesterday which saw markets shrug off their early flight to safety and finish in positive territory,” said Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor.
“The last six weeks have seen commodity markets stage a remarkable recovery and central banks have stepped up their support - but investors need to start asking difficult questions about whether the global macro outlook has changed so much in such a short space of time to support further upside.”
On Tuesday, European equities shook off a weak start to end little changed as investors largely shrugged off terrorist attacks in Brussels which left over 30 people deal and scores injured.
Nevertheless, investors continued to keep an eye out for any headlines related to the attacks.
Earlier on Wednesday, Belgian newspaper DH said police had arrested suspect Najim Laachraoui in the Aderlecht district of Brussels but it later withdrew the claim, saying the man arrested was not Laachraoui.
The other two suspects, believed to have died when the bombs went off, were named as brother Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui.
In corporate news, Credit Suisse was in the black as investors welcomed its plans to accelerate cost savings and cut 2,000 jobs in the global markets business.
French luxury brand Hermes was also on the front foot as its full year profit surpassed analysts’ expectations, with operating profit up 19% to €1.54bn.
B&Q owner Kingfisher rallied as its full year pre-tax profit beat analyst’s expectations and the company said its turnaround plan was on track.
Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca nudged lower after saying its Brilinta drug missed its target during a trial in stroke patients, proving less effective than aspirin.
Still to come on the macroeconomic calendar, Eurozone consumer confidence is due at 1500 GMT. In the US, new home sales are scheduled for release at 1400 GMT.