European shares rebound as Italy eases stance on bank levy

09 Aug, 2023

European shares rose on Wednesday, with Italian lenders rebounding from sharp losses in the previous session after the government eased its stance on a new banking levy.

By 0705 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 added 1.0% to touch a one-week high.

Euro zone banks gained 1.4% after a 3.5% slump a day earlier, as Italy set a cap at 0.1% of total bank assets for the new tax, after a surprise announcement of a 40% windfall tax on lenders sparked a sell-off.

Italian lenders such as Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM and UniCredit added between 1.7% and 2.5%.

Investors also appeared to shrug off data that showed China’s consumer sector fell into deflation and factory-gate prices extended declines in July, as the world’s second-largest economy struggled to revive demand.

European stock markets drop as banks hit

Among individual stocks, Delivery Hero climbed 5.8% after the German online takeaway food company raised its full-year revenue outlook.

Novo Nordisk inched up 0.5%, extending gains from Tuesday when the Denmark-based drugmaker’s shares hit a record high after it said its obesity drug reduced the risk of heart disease.

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