PARIS: European shares rose on Thursday, heading into a long Easter weekend break, as real estate and travel stocks helped outweigh concerns over a US economic slowdown that were triggered by lacklustre data.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.5%, posting its third consecutive weekly gain, with banking stocks among the biggest boosts.
After a strong start to the year, European equities remained under selling pressure from last month as the recent banking turmoil kept the risk sentiment fragile, with skittish investors fretting about mixed economic data and a looming recession.
Markets still expect the European Central Bank (ECB) to continue its rate hikes in the next policy meeting.
“With ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane warning that food price inflation in the EU was still rising, the pressure is building for further rate hikes from the ECB in the coming weeks,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said.
Economic data in the US suggested the labour market is feeling the effects of the Federal Reserve’s string of hawkish interest rate hikes in its attempt to cool down the economy and, in so doing, rein in inflation.
Investors will keep a close eye on a key US jobs report due on Friday for more clues on the outlook for global interest rates.
Back in the euro zone, German industrial production rose significantly more than expected in February, partially due to vehicle manufacturing, up 2% on the previous month.
Real estate shares led sectoral gains, rising 2.7%.
Among individual stocks, Shell was up 2.3% as the oil and gas giant expects higher liquefied natural gas (LNG) output in the first quarter after outages at its Australian plants last year.
Temenos AG rose 1.7% after reports suggest the company asked for fresh expressions of interest from potential suitors in recent weeks after takeover talks fell apart last year over the price.
Shares of Zurich Insurance Group added 1.9% as the group said it was withdrawing from the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), becoming the second founding member to quit the climate group in less than a week.
Credit Suisse edged 0.7% higher after Switzerland instructed the bank to cancel or reduce all outstanding bonus payments for the top three levels of management.
Markets will be closed on Friday and Monday on account of Good Friday and Easter holidays.
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