European stocks closed higher on Friday in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that some progress had been made in Moscow’s talks with Ukraine, while investors continued to weigh the “aggressive surprise” of the ECB this week.
“There are some positive changes, the negotiators are telling us,” Putin told a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, adding that talks were continuing “practically on a daily basis,” according to Reuters.
At the same time, the Kremlin left a window for a meeting between the Russian president and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.
“No one rules out the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. Yes, it is indeed possible,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov. “But first, both the delegations and the ministers of the two countries must do their duty, so that the presidents do not meet for the sake of the process and the discussion, but to meet for a result,” he added.
Following this news, the European stock markets jumped, with Stoxx 600 to reach up to 2.2%. Finally, however, the pan-European index collected its profits at 0.95%, at 431.17 points. The travel and leisure sector led the profit with an increase of 3.5%.
In the individual dashboard, the German DAX gained 1.38% to 13,628.11 points, the French CAC 40 rose 0.85% to 6,260.65 points, while the British FTSE 100 increased by 0.8% to 7,155.64 points.
In the periphery, the Italian FTSE MIB The Spaniard added 0.68% to 23,041.20 points IBEX 35 gained 0.9% to 8,142.10 points.
In the individual sharesthe Italian aerospace and defense company Leonardo recorded an increase of more than 10% after the announcement of strong profits in the fourth quarter of 2021 and positive guidance.
At the “bottom” of the Stoxx 600, was the German company Delivery Hero, which recorded losses of 1.8%.
It is noted that yesterday the ECB lowered its estimates for the course of development and revised its inflation forecasts upwards, warning that prices could exceed 7% in 2022 in the worst case scenario. In this context, the central bank decided to launch its closure Regular Bond Purchasing Program (APP) in the third quarteralthough it left a window open to continue shopping in the program if necessary.
At the same time as the ECB announcements, the data that saw the light of day in the US showed a new jump in inflation to 7.9% in February. This is the highest level since January 1982.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the barrage of Western sanctions against Moscow have intensified upward pressure on energy, food and minerals, which is expected to lead to a new jump in inflation in the coming months. This has rekindled concerns that central banks could tighten monetary policy faster than expected, slowing growth.
Source: Capital
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