Rebound in the European markets with a ‘jump’ close to 2% for technology

LAST UPDATE: 15.50

Positive signals on most European stock exchanges on Monday in the last meeting of the month, with investors continuing to monitor geopolitical developments in Ukraine, while also expecting central bank meetings this week amid concerns about tightening monetary policy.

European stock markets have been trading since a week when volatility hit a red light in the wake of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions.

On a weekly basis, the index lost 1.8%, recording its worst performance in more than two months. It was also the fourth consecutive week of losses.

The instability in the European markets was also fueled by the developments in Ukraine. The United Nations Security Council is meeting today to discuss the Ukraine crisis at the request of the United States, which, along with its NATO allies, is stepping up efforts to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine. new sanctions against Moscow.

Kiev on Sunday demanded that Moscow withdraw its troops from across the border and continue dialogue with the West if it “seriously” wants tensions to escalate.

The United States and the United Kingdom, for their part, have threatened new sanctions against Russia. London has said it will target Russian interests that “are of direct interest to the Kremlin”.

Britain will impose sanctions on companies and individuals with the closest ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in case Russia takes any aggressive action against Ukraine, said today the Deputy Minister of Finance of the United Kingdom Simon Clark on Monday, as broadcast by Reuters.

The UK and US sanctions arsenal include measures aimed at the strategically important Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany, as well as Russian access to the dollar, the dominant currency in international trade. .

Faced with the prospect of new sanctions, Moscow is demanding equal treatment from Washington. “We want good relations, fair, with mutual respect and parity with the United States, just like with any other country in the world,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a televised statement.

At today’s meeting, the pan-European index Stoxx 600 adds 0.6% to 468 points, with tech stocks jumping 1.9% and leading the way. Shares of the core resources sector are down 0.9%.

In the individual dashboards, the German index DAX strengthened by 0.57% to 15,400 points, the French CAC 40 notes marginal losses at 6,960 points and the British FTSE 100 gains 0.15% to 7,475 points.

In the periphery the Italian FTSE MIB adds 0.93% to 26,800 points and Spanish IBEX 35 loses 0.1% to 8,600 points.

In the individual shares, the Swedish chemical company Hexpol rose 7%, while at the bottom of the European blue chip index, the Swedish pulp and paper company BillerudKorsnäs fell by 3.2%, after Citigroup reduced the target price for the share.

In the front of results, losses of 96 million euros were recorded by Ryanair in the last quarter of 2021, but stressed that he hopes the reductions in production capacity will lead to higher prices in the key summer period. The result was in line with convergent estimates for losses of € 101 million. The airline’s share is losing about 1% in current transactions.

In macro of the day, The eurozone economy grew at a rate of 5.2% in 2021, with ECB President Christine Lagarde expecting the economy to reach pre-crisis levels in the current quarter. In the second quarter of 2021, the economy grew at a moderate pace, amid another surge in coronavirus outbreaks.

In Germany, inflation rose in January but at a slower pace than in December, when it was at its highest level since the summer of 1992, according to preliminary data from Destatis. Consumer prices rose 4.9% year-on-year in line with national standards, compared with estimates for 4.3%.

Inflation in Spain slowed in January after the rise in December, to a high of almost three decades. Consumer prices stood at 6.1% year-on-year in January after a revised 6.6% rise in December, according to estimates by the INE statistical service.

In Germany the number of processing companies that reported problems with the supply of intermediate products and raw materials, fell to 67.3% in January from 81.9% in December, according to the Ifo Institute.

In addition, Italy’s economy grew by 0.6% in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the previous quarter, thanks to steady domestic demand, as preliminary data showed, a slightly stronger increase than expected. On an annual basis, the fourth quarter GDP in the third largest economy of the euro area increased by 6.4%, according to the national statistical office ISTAT.

Portugal’s economy grew 1.6% in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the previous three months, according to data from the statistical service INE. The statistical service stressed in its initial estimates that GDP grew by 4.9% in 2021, the highest level since 1990, after shrinking 8.4% in the previous year.

Meanwhile, most Asian stock markets are moving up on Monday, but markets in mainland China and South Korea are closed due to New Year’s Eve New Lunar New Year. The Nikkei 225 in Japan strengthened on Monday by 1.07% to 27,000 points, however it loses about 6% on a monthly basis.