Europe’s STOXX 600 index closed at a one-month high on Thursday, supported by miners, banks and healthcare sectors, although chip stocks saw a heavy selloff after Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC’s bleak sales forecast.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.4%, extending gains to the third straight session. The index hit a day’s high of 464.17 points.
Upbeat corporate earnings and signs of a sharp slowdown in British consumer inflation added to hopes global price pressures eased.
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European miners and healthcare sectors rose about 1.6% each, while banks added 0.6%. All sectors were among top performers on the day.
Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, said these sectors were among the biggest losers in the first six months of the year
“So it’s not uncommon to see a little bit of a gain. Traders are reassessing that maybe the stocks that have seen such losses in the first half of the year are looking a little bit more attractive at these current levels.”
Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 was also at a one-month high, with Anglo American boosting as it rose 3.3% after the global miner’s first-half copper production surged 42%.
The technology sector, which has gained nearly 23% this year, was the biggest sectoral loser in Europe with a 2.5% drop.
Semiconductor firms including ASML, ASM International and Aixtron fell between 2.7% and 5.6% after TSMC forecast a drop in 2023 sales with global economic woes denting demand for chips.
Second-quarter earnings for STOXX 600 companies are expected to fall 9.2% from the previous year, based on Refinitiv IBES data.
Saab climbed 4.1% after the Swedish defence group raised its organic sales growth forecast, while Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor gained 6.7% after reporting second-quarter earnings slightly above expectations.
Shares of Volvo Cars dropped 4.2% after the carmaker posted a 54% fall in its second-quarter operating earnings.
Electrolux slumped 20.3% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after Europe’s biggest home appliances maker swung to a quarterly loss, followed by a 8.2% drop in Essity after its second-quarter core earnings missed estimates.
Stockholm’s OMX 30 index fell 0.5%, closing at its lowest level in over two months.
The focus will now shift to key central bank meetings due next week, with traders expecting the European Central Bank to deliver a 25-basis-point rate hike.
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