Europe’s STOXX 600 index closed higher for the second straight day on Tuesday after a slew of better-than-expected earnings reports helped offset worries about fast-rising interest rates and a slowing euro zone economy.
The pan-European stock index rose 1.4%, to close at its highest level since Sept 20, with real-estate, technology and financial sectors leading the gains.
Boosting financial stocks, UBS climbed 7.7% after the Swiss bank beat market expectations for quarterly profit due to a rise in new money inflows.
SAP gained 6.5% after the German business software maker reported faster-than-expected revenue growth for the third quarter, while Logitech International jumped 12.5% after the computer peripherals maker reaffirmed its full-year forecast.
Overall, the quarterly updates helped lift sentiment despite lingering worries about a European recession as consumers and businesses buckle under pressure from surging inflation and higher borrowing costs to tame it.
Earnings from tech giants Microsoft Corp, Google-owner Alphabet Inc, and Apple Inc will set the tone on Wall Street this week.
“Our focus is on the forward outlook for Q4 and 2023 EPS, which has now started to fall, even though we believe it still to be at optimistic levels and thus subject to further cuts as companies report,” said Leonardo Pellandini, equity strategist at Julius Baer.
“We reiterate our defensive positioning for the time being given the imminent slowdown in macroeconomic momentum.”
Third quarter earnings are expected to increase 31.3% year-over-year. Of the 65 companies in the STOXX 600 that have reported earnings to date, 55.4% have beat analysts’ profit estimates, as per Refinitiv IBES data. In a typical quarter, 53% top estimates.
While European corporate earnings are expected to grow 31.3% in the third quarter, it is seen up 18.6% in the fourth quarter and just 3% in the first quarter of 2023.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to deliver a second straight 75 basis point rate hike this week, but a recent report suggesting the U.S. Federal Reserve might slow its pace of rate hikes has raised hopes of a pivot from the ECB too.
That prompted Euro zone bond yields to fall, boosting the rate-sensitive technology stocks.
Among other stocks, Air Liquide rose 6.7% after the French industrial gases company beat quarterly sales expectations despite a slowdown in European demand.
Adidas dropped 3.2% after the German sportswear maker terminated its partnership with the American rapper and designer Kanye West immediately over antisemitism and hate speech. Separately, Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to “underweight”.
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