© Reuters.
By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com – The european stock markets close out the quarter on a note surprisingly positive, after the rise of Wall Street yesterday and in Asia last night.
This is not based on any catalyst is evident: the us and chinese authorities do not seem closer to a trade agreement than before, and the chief economic adviser to the president, Donald Trump, Larry Kudlow, said on Thursday that it could take months rather than weeks before the various that remain are flattened. The Financial Times has also reported this Friday that the chinese authorities have admitted that the finalization of a deal could take more than a few weeks.
The data on retail sales in Germany have exceeded expectations, but the unemployment data were disappointing, as the figures on the consumption expenditure and the GDP in Spain in the fourth quarter.
Nevertheless, it is a solid first quarter for all the major indices in the region. The FTSE MIB 30 has recorded the best performance with a gain of 15.5%, followed by CAC 40 with 12.5% and the AEX up 12.2%. The gain uk FTSE only 7.9% seems to be better after adjusting to take into account the 4.4% rise of the pound sterling against the euro since the beginning of the year, which means that the real laggards are those of the IBEX, an increase of 7.8% and the Dax is up only 8.8%.
In spite of everything, only half of the major indices are above their level of a year ago, which underlines the magnitude of the loss of land due to the trade war between China and the United States during the second half of 2018.
The Stoxx 600 has fun, however this morning, with an increase of 0.80 point, or 37% to 377,60 at 05h15 (09h15 GMT). The Swedish giant retail H & M Hennes & Mauritz (ST: HMb) has benefited from the significant gains it has made, while its latest report of trading showed a marked improvement in its margins, then it worked finally on a mountain of unsold inventories, the group’s telecom French Altice (AS: TCAA), who had also promised an improvement in its margins this year.
In Germany, the Dax is up 0.4%, while the FTSE 100 rises 0.5%
On the other hand, the travel company Tui (LON: TUIT) has fallen more than 8% after it announced that the takedown of its airplanes, Boeing (NYSE: BA) would cost $ 225 million this year. It now expects that its operating profit base drop of 17%, after expected to be stable compared to 2018.
