European Stocks Experience Varied Performance in Cautious Trading

22 March (Brussels Morning) – European markets show mixed performance with a cautious investor mindset over economic data and corporate updates, including gains for Phoenix Group Holding and improved German Business Confidence. 

On Friday, European stocks are showing inconsistent trends, and investors are being careful with their decisions because of recent stock price gains. Moreover, markets are also paying attention to new information about the economy in different regions.

Following the Federal Reserve decision to not change interest rates on Wednesday and indicate three cut rates this year, the Bank of England suggested lowering rates soon for the British economy. After this, the Swiss National Bank gave a surprise rate cut, which made investors feel positive. 

The pan European Stoxx 600 is down slightly. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 is up 0.7%, Germany’s DAX is up 0.06% and France’s CAC 40 is down 0.25%. Switzerland’s SMI is down 0.25%.

UK Market

In the UK marketplace, Phoenix Holdings is rising about 10% after the company reported a pretax profit for 2023. The corporation reported cash generation in 2023 was 2.024 billion pounds, up from 1.504 billion pounds previous year.

Reckitt Benckiser is gaining about 3%. Natwest Group, Lloyds Banking, Prudential, WPP, Vodafone, Scottish Mortgage, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Unilever, Legal & General and Anglo American Plc are up 1.3 to 2%.

German Market

In the German market, Siemens Energy, Sartorius, Deutsche Post, Vonovia and Zalando are getting  2 to 3%. Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, RWE and MTU Aero Engines are up 1 to 1.5%.

Infineon, Puma, BMW, Munich RE and Continental are lower by 0.7 to 1.6%. 

French Market

In the French market, Teleperformance is gaining  more than 2%. Carrefour, BNP Paribas, WorldLine, Sanofi, Edenred, Societe Generale, Thales, Orange and Veolia are acquiring 1 to 1.8%.

Air Liquide, Kering, Hermes International, LVMH and STMicroElectronics are declining rapidly. 

According to data received from the Office for National Statistics, UK sales have not changed in February after rebounding by a revised 3.6% in January. 

Without including auto fuel, retail sales volume showed a slower monthly rise of 0.2% in February after gaining 3.4% in January. Sales were predicted to decline by 0.4%. 

Data showed retail sales decreased up to 0.4 in comparison to a 0.5 rise on yearly basis. And, the sales were predicted to decrease 0.7. 

Michael Field, European market strategist at Morningstar, said “January’s bounce in UK retail sales was short-lived, with February’s reading flat, and down by 0.4% on last year’s number. This was slightly ahead of economists’ expectations, but overall, not a great sign for the UK economy.”

Destatis data disclosed that Germany’s import rates declined 5.9% by the year in January which is slower than the 7% fall in December. Prices have been decreasing since March 2023. 

Destatis said that this is the first result after conversion of import and export prices to the new base year 2021. 

Results of the ifo Institute survey claim that German business spirit improved in March. In March, the business optimism index improved to 87.8% which is above expectations. The score was expected to rise to 86.0 from February’s initial estimate of 85.5.