MILAN/FRANKFURT: European stocks inched higher on Monday as gains in technology shares and upbeat earnings reports helped investors look past the possibility of extended lockdowns in many countries grappling with new variants of the novel coronavirus.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2%. Tech stocks were up 1.2% and gained the most among sectors, with their US peers trading near all-time highs.
European technology investor Prosus jumped 6% to an all-time high, while chipmakers climbed amid signs of a global chip shortage.
Dutch health technology company Philips gained 2.5% after reporting a 7% increase in fourth-quarter core profit as the pandemic continued to spur demand for hospital equipment to treat COVID-19 patients.
Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa gained 2.6% after it reiterated its sales and profit margin targets, while peer Siemens Energy rose 1.6% after it swung to a core profit in its fiscal first quarter.
British Airways-owner IAG, Ryanair, Lufthansa and Air France KLM fell between 3.9% and 6.9%, while retailers fell 0.4%.
The STOXX 600 ended last week almost flat after data showed Europe’s dominant service sectors took a hard hit from renewed lockdowns in January.
Among other stocks, Siltronic slipped 2.6% even as Taiwan’s GlobalWafers again raised its offer for the German silicon wafer maker by 150 million euros ($183 million) as it tries to win over the target company’s shareholders.
French state-controlled power group EDF slumped 11.9% to the bottom of STOXX 600.
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