Europe close: Stocks extend gains, biotech to the fore
ARGEN-X
€343.88
18:06 22/01/21
Stocks across the Continent edged higher on Thursday, save for the Dax, which ran up to a record high thanks to better-than-expected industrial production data out of the euro area's largest economy and after news that the US and China were set to sign their trade deal on 15 January.
Argenx Se
$368.75
10:59 22/04/24
Nevertheless, investors were also keeping a wary eye on the news-flow out of the Middle East given the heightened risk of further strikes by Tehran or by proxies acting in its name.
According to CNN, US Defence Secretary, Mark Esper, proxy groups for Iran may still carry out attacks "either directed or non-directed by Iran" and Washington would need to "sort through that, understand, who’s doing it, who’s motivating it."
Earlier, a senior commander of Iran's elite Republican Guards had said that the missile strike by Tehran against US bases two days before was only the beginning of a region-wide operation.
Against that backdrop, by the end of trading, the Dax was 1.31% stronger to 13,495.06 - just off an all-time high reached intraday of 13,523.34 - alongside a 0.19% rise on the Cac-40 to 6,042.55.
Spain's Ibex 35 on the other hand was drifting lower by 0.10% to 9,581.8.
Commenting on the day's events, IG's Josh Mahony said: "Stock markets are on the rise as we head into the climax of the week, with Donald Trump’s comments soothing market fears over a potential ramp up in military action between the US and Iran.
"[Monthly US] Payrolls week is always associated with volatility, yet up until now there has been very little thought of anything apart from the Iranian issue for markets."
UAE-focused hospital operator NMC Health topped gainers on the Stoxx 600, bouncing back after their recent thrashing.
Dutch-listed biotech ArGen X was right behind on the leaderboard, notching up a record high, followed by German peer MorphoSys AG.
The German outfit led gains on the country's MDax index for medium-capitalisation stocks - alongside Evotec SE - after analysts at Commerzbank hiked their target price for the shares from €97.0 to €160.0 and raised their recommendation from 'hold' to 'buy'.
Airlines also figured prominently among Thursday's top gainers, with Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa outperforming peers, alongside gains by shares of Italian lenders Banco BPM and FinecoBank.
Boosting German share prices, industrial production in Germany sped ahead at a 1.1% month-on-month pace in November (consensus: 0.8%), boosted by a 2.4% jump in the output of capital goods.
Yet against the same month one year ago, production was remained down by 2.6%, although that did mark an improvement on the 4.6% drop seen in the month before.
Further afield meanwhile, reports indicated that Chinese vice-premier, Liu He, would travel to the US on 13 January, with the signing of the so-called phase-one trade deal expected to take place on 15 January.
Back in Europe, Eurostat announced that the rate of unemployment within the single currency bloc in November was steady versus the month before at 7.5%, as expected.
CAC 40 - Risers
ST Microelectronics (STM) 25.20 +2.44%
Essilorluxottica (EL) 141.15 +1.62%
Safran (SAF) 139.45 +1.42%
LVMH (MC) 424.50 +1.36%
Dassault Systemes (DSY) 152.45 +1.30%
Vivendi (VIV) 25.97 +0.85%
Veolia Environnement (VIE) 23.76 +0.76%
Sanofi (SAN) 92.00 +0.72%
Atos (ATO) 77.50 +0.62%
L'Oreal (OR) 262.80 +0.61%
CAC 40 - Fallers
Sodexo (SW) 100.50 -6.29%
Renault (RNO) 42.08 -1.31%
Valeo (FR) 32.32 -1.31%
Vinci (DG) 98.92 -1.00%
Schneider Electric (SU) 91.80 -0.82%
BNP Paribas (BNP) 52.40 -0.72%
Saint Gobain (SGO) 35.69 -0.58%
Total (FP) 49.96 -0.56%
ENGIE (ENGI) 14.81 -0.40%
Publicis Groupe Sa (PUB) 42.02 -0.40%