European shares rose on Monday, aided by healthcare, with investors awaiting a slew of data throughout the week for clarity on the economic outlook as major central banks advocate restrictive monetary policies.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.8% by 0920 GMT, in a broad-based rally.
The index clocked its steepest single-day decline in three weeks on Friday, dropping by 1%, following remarks from the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that tempered investor confidence in the notion that interest rates have reached a peak.
Focus now lies on key inflation data, including that of the US and the euro zone through the week.
European shares ease from 3-week high
“Markets are getting the feeling the Fed is good being data dependent. They want to see the impact of previous rate hikes on the economy, the full extent of which will take a while to see,” said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
Investors are also watchful of US President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco.
“Just the fact those lines of communication continue to be open brings a vibe of positivity and if we do see some significant headlines coming out of that, more focus will turn towards it,” Capital.com’s Hathorn added.
Markets appeared to look past the risk of a US government shutdown ahead of an end-of-week deadline for funding and Moody’s decision to lower its outlook on the US credit rating to “negative” from “stable”.
Among major stocks, Novo Nordisk jumped 2.6% to hit a near one-month high, driving the healthcare index up 1.4%, after data showed heart-protective benefits of its widely popular Wegovy obesity treatment are due to more than weight loss alone.
Denmark’s OMX Copenhagen 20 jumped 2%, outperforming its regional peers.
Britain’s Phoenix Group soared 7.1% to top the STOXX 600 after raising the full-year cash generation forecast.
British Land gained 5.5% after the property firm said it expects annual rental growth at the top end of its previous forecast range. Technip Energies dropped 1.9% after Barclays downgraded the stock to “underweight” from “overweight”.
Debt-laden Swedish property group SBB lost 6.9% as its quarterly pre-tax loss widened.
Meanwhile, Portugal’s premier Antonio Costa, who resigned recently, told foreign investors the country was open for business and wanted to remain attractive despite an ongoing corruption probe into “green” energy projects.
The country’s PSI 20 index was up 0.7% after losing nearly 2.4% last week.
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