Europe's STOXX 600 recovered slightly on Wednesday after a selloff in the previous session, as investors eyed political risks in France and awaited earnings from artificial intelligence chip leader Nvidia.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.1%, a day after registering its largest drop in nearly a month. Most other regional bourses, however, closed in the red.
France's CAC 40 bounced back 0.4% from a three-week low hit in the previous session's selloff sparked by concerns over a potential collapse of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's government next month.
Three main opposition parties said on Monday they would not back Bayrou in a confidence vote, which he announced for September 8, over his plans for sweeping budget cuts.
If the government falls, President Emmanuel Macron could name a new prime minister immediately, ask Bayrou to stay on as head of a caretaker government or call a snap election.
"A lot has already been priced in, especially for domestic names ... French banks, utilities, business services - but I would expect uncertainty to remain for the next few weeks," said Christophe Hautin, equity portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors.
Investors are awaiting earnings from Nvidia, the world's most valuable company, for fresh cues on the AI trade, after a blistering technology stock rally hit a speed bump in August.
European corporate earnings have been resilient so far, with more than 52% of companies that have reported second quarter earnings till Tuesday, exceeding analysts' estimates.
"Investors want to assess to what degree tariffs and the uncertainty of the past few months have affected business confidence ... but the macro outlook for Europe looks pretty solid," said Nicholas Brooks, head of economic and investment research at ICG.
Heavyweight banks led sectoral losses, down 1.3%. Shares in Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank fell 3.4% and 4.9%, respectively, after a Goldman Sachs downgrade.
On the flip side, the personal and household goods sector gained 1.5%. Luxury stocks led the charge, with the broader index hitting a near one month high.
Swatch rose 6.3%, to top the STOXX 600, after the Swiss watchmaker's CEO said the company will be able to partly offset an impact from U.S. tariffs through price increases, analysts said.
Source: Investing.com
Tested EN...
Asian stock markets weakened for the second consecutive day, indicating that the initial rally that had been "speedy" at the start of the year is starting to lose steam. At the same time, US governmen...
US stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed uneven economic data against expectations for eventual Federal Reserve easing, with the S&P 500 easing 0.2% and the Dow Jones sliding 0.8% fr...
European stocks were in mixed territory on Wednesday morning, as regional market jitters grow over U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to annex Greenland. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was little chang...
Asian stock markets weakened slightly on Wednesday after posting their best start to the year in history. The decline was driven by a decline in Japanese stocks amid escalating tensions with China. Th...
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more...
Gold prices weakened slightly on Thursday (February 12th), as more solid US employment data reduced market confidence in an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The strong employment data prompted market participants to shift expectations of...
The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to...