PARIS: European shares rose on Monday, extending the year’s upbeat start to a second week, as China reopened its borders overnight and US and European data soothed nerves about aggressive tightening by major global central banks.
The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.9% by closing time.
The index clocked its best weekly performance in over nine months on Friday after a clutch of positive data – including strong euro zone factory activity and a drop in the region’s headline inflation – indicated a milder-than-expected recession and easing price pressures.
That, along with data showing a moderation in US wage increases, calmed fears that the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank would continue with their aggressive monetary policy tightening.
Rate-sensitive tech stocks rose 3.4%.
Industrial production in Europe’s largest economy, Germany, rose slightly more than expected in November, adding to the optimism and lifting Germany’s DAX 1.3% higher.
It plays into the rhetoric that’s been going on over the past week, which seems to suggest that maybe the recession in Europe is not going to be as deep and long-lasting as might have initially been thought, said Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell.
The construction & materials index jumped 2.4%.
Swiss plumbing supplies company Geberit gained 4.3%, boosting the sector index, after Goldman Sachs upgraded its stock to “neutral” from “sell”.
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