Euro markets: Gains of 1.42% with technological ‘jump’, positive sign in the week

Major European stock markets closed lower on Friday, concluding a week with a positive sign, as fears of a tightening monetary policy in the world seem to have receded in part in recent days.

Investment sentiment seems to have strengthened in recent days, especially after the positive reaction received by Wall Street to the minutes of the May meeting of the Federal Reserve, which showed that the bank officials are determined to proceed with more interest rate hikes – if needed- in order to tame inflation.

In addition, the fact that despite the rapid rise in prices in both the US and Europe, retailers continue to announce impressive quarterly figures that exceed market estimates, suggesting that economies may be resilient in order to avoid the recession that monetary tightening usually brings.

In this climate, the pan-European Stoxx 600 strengthened by 1.42% on Friday to 443.93 points, with a boost from the technology sector that recorded a “jump” of 3.2% and led the profits.

In the individual dashboard, the German DAX strengthened by 1.62% to 14,462.19 points, the French CAC 40 rose 1.64% to 6,515.75 points, and the British FTSE 100 added 0.27% to 7,585.46 points.

In the periphery, the Italian FTSE MIB recorded gains of 0.37% to 24,636.26 points, while the Spanish IBEX 35 strengthened by 0.5% to 8,933.60 points.

In the individual sharesRichemont climbed almost 10% to the top of the Stoxx 600. The Swiss luxury goods company last week saw its shares plummet despite strong sales and profitability for 2022.

At the bottom of the index was the British chemical company Johnson Matthey, with losses of about 7% after its agreement to sell most of its material batteries to the Australian EV Metals.