17:20 04/18/24
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European markets showed resilience on Thursday, supported by a surge in construction activity in the Eurozone.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose slightly by 0.32%, closing at 500.11 points.
Germany DAX the index gained 0.45%, reaching 17,850.81 points, while that of France CAC40 The index rose 0.52% to 8,023.26 points.
The United Kingdom FTSE100 also saw a modest rise of 0.37%, closing at 7,877.05 points.
“European markets are off to a strong start to the session, as bulls look to step in to salvage what has been a rather overwhelming April so far,” said Scope of Markets Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst, earlier.
“The risk sentiment felt today helped push the dollar lower, following a period of gains that saw the greenback hit a five-month high yesterday.”
Mahony said what was notable in recent months was the outperformance of European indices compared to their US counterparts, with their high valuations leading to greater profit-taking.
“The Federal Reserve faces high inflation pressures and a strong economy, increasing the likelihood of a divergence this year as European central banks cut rates ahead of their U.S. counterparts.”
Eurozone construction activity rises, new car registrations fall
On the economic front, construction activity in the euro zone saw a notable increase in February, according to new data from Eurostat.
Seasonally adjusted construction output rose 1.8% in the eurozone and across the European bloc, marking a significant rise from the previous month.
Growth was mainly driven by a 4.1% increase in civil engineering projects in the eurozone, accompanied by increases of 3.5% in building construction and 1.7% in specialist construction activities.
Germany – the EU’s largest economy – saw a substantial 7.9% increase in construction output in February.
However, France’s production fell by 2.1%, while that of Spain saw only a modest increase of 0.4%, and data was not available for seven countries, including Italy and Ireland.
Despite the monthly improvement, year-on-year construction production fell by 0.4% in the common currency area and by 0.6% in the EU.
At the same time, new car registrations in the EU saw a decline in March, attributed to the timing of the Easter holidays, according to the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA).
Total sales across the bloc stood at 1.03 million vehicles last month, down 5.2% from March 2023.
This decline follows consecutive monthly increases of 12.1% in January and 10.1% in February.
Notably, sales in the EU’s largest markets all declined, including Germany, down 6.2%; Spain, down 4.7%; Italy, which lost 3.7%; and France, which was down 1.5%.
Battery electric car sales also suffered, falling 11.3% to 134,397 units, contributing to a drop in market share from 13.9% to 13.0%.
However, sales of hybrid-electric cars saw an increase, with market share rising to 29%, from 24.4% a year earlier, while plug-in hybrids fell 6.5% to 73,029 units. , capturing a market share of 7.1%.
Across the Atlantic, sales of existing homes in the United States fell last month, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The seasonally adjusted number of existing home sales fell 4.3% to 4.19 million units.
This figure is slightly lower than the expectations of economists, who expected a drop to 4.2 million units.
Takeout Delivery Businesses Find Grace, Nokia Writes Off Losses
In shares, Swiss engineering company ABB jumped 6.02% following a report of stable revenue totaling $7.87 billion, alongside an 11% increase in operating profit to $1.41 billion, surpassing expectations and sparking investor optimism.
Takeout delivery companies also made gains, with Deliveroo leading the pack with an increase of 4.46%.
Deliveroo’s positive performance in the first quarter, marked by a return to order growth and a slight increase in gross transaction value, reinforced investor confidence.
Just eat takeaway and giant meal kit HelloFresh also experienced increases, of 5.71% and 8.19%, respectively.
Nokiadespite initial losses, managed to turn things around to close up 2.22%.
The Finnish company failed to meet market expectations for operating profit, amid a 19% drop in net sales.
On the other hand, Sartorius Stedim Biotechnology plunged 15.69% after publishing disappointing first quarter results.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.