The Stoxx 600 – ‘Leap’ 2.4% the car manufacturers expanded their record

European stocks were flat on Wednesday as the Stoxx 600 slightly extended its all-time high.

Investors continue to evaluate governments’ efforts to keep their societies open amid an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections due to the highly contagious Omicron mutation.

Although states have announced some measures to protect public health, the severe restrictions imposed in the first waves of the pandemic have led to a recession.

At the same time, the focus of investors was the yields on US government bonds, with the 10-year having 17 basis points in the previous sessions. However, today it records negative trends, losing 1 bp.

In this climate, the pan-European index Stoxx 600 recorded marginal gains of 0.07% at 494.35 points, closing at a new all-time high. The automotive industry led the way with gains of 2.4%, with Stellantis, Daimler and Renault adding 3.8%, 4.01% and 5.31% respectively. During the week, the industry is strengthening by 8% so far, recording a new record high.

Stellantis today announced a major partnership with Amazon for the connectivity of its vehicles, using mainly the AWS servers of the giant American company and its Alexa voice command system. Stellantis will create together with Amazon the software of its “Smart cockpit”, an electronic platform that from 2024 will be integrated in the vehicles produced by the 14 brands of the group, the two groups clarified.

On the other hand, the Oxford Nano was at the bottom of the Stoxx 600, losing 4.9%.

In the individual dashboard, the German DAX gained 0.74% to 16,271.75 points, the French CAC 40 strengthened by 0.71% to 7,376.37 points, while the British FTSE 100 recorded an increase of 0.16% to 7,516.87 points.

In the periphery, the Italian FTSE MIB gained 0.74% to 28,162.67 points, while the Spanish IBEX 35 fell marginally by 0.06% to 8,790.80 points.

In macro As of today, the data released today showed that economic growth fell in December to a nine-month low, following the brief acceleration in November, returning to the downward trend that has formed the last wave of the pandemic.

In particular, the composite PMI, which combines manufacturing and services, fell to 53.3 points in December from 55.4 in November, the IHS Markit announced today. This is the lowest level since March.

The PMI for services, meanwhile, fell to its lowest level since April at 53.1 points in December from 55.9 points in November as the industry is hit hard by rising coronavirus infections.

Earlier this week, IHS Markit announced that its manufacturing PMI had fallen to 58.0 points in December from 58.4 in November, the lowest level in ten months.

“The acceleration we saw in November was unfortunately short-lived. Amid the resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the Eurozone, growth slowed in December to a weaker pace than in March,” said Joe Hayes, Senior Economist .