Europe close: Stocks end on mixed note after ECB decision
European stocks were little changed by the end of trading on Thursday even as European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi struck a dovish tone at his press conference following the monetary authority´s policy decision.
The benchmark Stoxx 600 Europe closed down 0.06%, while Germany’s DAX lost 0.02% and France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.25%.
Milan's FTSE Mibtel on the other hand jumped 0.69% to 19,490.96.
Meanwhile, oil prices gained with West Texas Intermediate up 0.37% at $51.27 per barrel and Brent crude rising 0.4% at $54.13.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was facing rising production from its rivals despite previous agreements for combined supply curbs. The rich world´s oil watchdog estimated that non-OPEC producers will increase production by 175,000 barrels a day for this year, largely from the US.
As expected, the ECB kept all its main policy settings unchanged.
Commenting on its decision and Draghi´s remarks, Mark Wall at Deutsche Bank said to clients: "The ECB's patience and willingness to wait to extract the underlying trend from inflation was emphasized.
""Looking through" inflation implies less risk of an early tightening move in March; June is still the earliest timing for a tapering decision. June is the soonest we believe spot and forward core inflation could satisfy our minimum requirements for tapering – spot core at least 1.00-1.25% and the staff two year ahead core forecast at least 1.7%. If the ECB's more optimistic expectations are correct, the taper decision could be announced in June. If our more cautious macro view is correct – we see some headwinds slowing growth back towards trend in H1 – the taper decision could be stalled until September. Risks are skewed towards a June move."
The Eurozone current account surplus bulged in November, rising from €28.1bn in October to an all-time high €36.1bn for November, according to data from the European Central Bank, led by an improvement in the area´s primary income balance.
On the corporate front, Zodiac Aerospace shares rocketed after Safran agreed to buy the company for €8.5bn in a deal that will create the world’s third largest aerospace supplier.
Italy’s UBI Banca was a high riser after signing a deal to buy three smaller Italian banks, while Remy Cointreau rallied as its third-quarter revenue surpassed analysts’ expectations thanks to strong demand in the US.
Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton ticked lower despite saying it and its Brazilian iron-ore joint venture with Vale SA, Samarco Mineracao, have set a 30 June deadline with federal prosecutors in Brazil to settle a $47.5bn claim related a dam failure in November 2015 which killed 19 people.
Moneysupermarket.com surged after saying it expects to deliver strong full-year results, with revenue ahead by around 12% on the year.
On the downside, Gazprom was in the red after saying it swung to a net profit in the third-quarter even as revenue fell.
French retailer Carrefour lost ground despite reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales.
In London, Royal Mail slumped as the dwindling volume of letters to Father Christmas and other festive missives continued to hold back its sales, with revenues remaining flat in the nine months to 25 December.