Europe midday: Shares flat as investors eye US CPI numbers

by | Jul 13, 2021

European stocks were flat at midday on Tuesday, with London’s FTSE the only bright spot after the Bank of England lifted curbs on dividend payouts as investors eyed CPI data from the US later in the day,
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.06% after hitting a record high on Monday. Britain’s FTSE 100 eased off early gains to be 0.07% higher, while other main regional indexes fell. US and Asian markets were higher overnight.

UK banks Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds all rose after the BoE ditched a ban on shareholder payouts imposed at the height of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

“The resilience of equities in the face of a growing crisis in Europe seems remarkable, but with earnings updates continuing to move in the right direction and a reporting season on the horizon in the US it seems investors continue to expect improvement in the global backdrop, even as governments mull over whether or not to ease restrictions,” said Chris Beauchamp at IG.

“UK bank stocks have edged down since their May high but have found a reason to bounce this morning, and the news of a return to dividend increases and share buybacks may well provide the catalyst that the rally in banks has been looking for over the past six weeks.”

Investors were also focusing on June CPI numbers from Germany, France and the US. In the UK retail sales enjoyed their best quarter ever according to the British Retail Consortium, with a big jump in spending in June on clothing and footwear, as well as sales of televisions ahead of the Euro 2020 football championship. Spending on hotels and accommodation also rose as a result of the easing of restrictions in May.

“With bond markets seemingly less concerned about inflationary pressures, after last week’s sharp fall in yields, and commodity prices starting to show signs of slowing, today’s latest CPI numbers from the US may well mark the high-water mark as far as the reflation trade is concerned,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

“This of course assumes that bond markets are drawing the correct conclusions around recent events, and that we weren’t merely seeing a clear out of stale positions.”

Nokia shares topped the index as the company said it expected to publish a revised, more optimistic forecast for 2021 in a sign that its turnaround programme under new boss Pekka Lundmark is bearing fruit.

Shares in German drug delivery device maker Gerresheimer fell to the bottom of the Stoxx after reporting lower second quarter net profit.

Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia jumped 6% after it said it planned to raise its full-year outlook as business picked up pace in the second quarter.

Shares of German genetic testing company Qiagen fell after it lowered its outlook on weaker demand for Covid-19 tests.

Norwegian chipmaker Nordic Semiconductor surged 6.2% as its quarterly profit doubled.

Iconic UK shoemaker Dr Martens rose after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ from Goldman Sachs.

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