FRANKFURT: European shares surged on Friday, with major indexes jumping more than 1 percent, as renewed hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East dragged oil prices lower and injected fresh optimism into the market.
Brent crude futures fell 3.7 percent, extending the previous session’s losses, after US President Donald Trump cancelled plans to strike Iran and said a deal could be reached as soon as this weekend.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index advanced 1.9 percent to 633.21 points, logging 1.7 percent gains for the week.
Spain’s IBEX 35 Index outperformed regional peers, climbing more than 2.6 percent and hitting an all-time high. “After a week or two in which you actually have seen a bit of two-way price action, mostly on the downside… it has given sentiment across Europe the shot in the arm it was looking for,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group.
“European stocks are still cheaper than their US counterparts, particularly in tech… perhaps it’s time investors can look again at the stocks in Europe with more confidence because of the lower valuations.”
The upbeat end to the week followed a period of heavy turbulence for European shares, with sharp swings in AI-linked tech stocks, pressure on UK-listed banks due to tightening rules in China and a quarter-point rate hike by the European Central Bank.
Traders still expect borrowing costs to rise another 25 basis points before the end of the year, according to data from LSEG. Energy shares were the only laggards on Friday, tracking falling crude prices to decline 1 percent.
Travel and leisure stocks were the day’s top performers, rising 4.1 percent and hitting a five-month high. Airlines Lufthansa and Air France added 5.2 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively, while integrated tourism group TUI AG jumped 8.7 percent.
The STOXX 600 banks index led sectoral gains with a 4.3 percent rise, with Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale climbing more than 6 percent each. Acciona Energia jumped 13 percent after media reports said global infrastructure funds were teaming up to bid for stakes in the Spanish renewable energy firm.
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