*
STOXX 600 ends up 0.4%
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France's CAC comes close to all-time high
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Louis Vuitton picks Pharrell Williams to head menswear
designs
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Retail group Ahold beats Q4 profit expectations
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Barclays tumbles as profit slides
(Updates to market close)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Amruta Khandekar
Feb 15 (Reuters) - European shares ended higher on
Wednesday, as gains in luxury firms pushed France's blue-chip
index close to its record high level, offseting concerns that
strong U.S. data would pave the way for further monetary
tightening by the Federal Reserve.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.4% higher, with a 1.5% jump in Paris-listed luxury firm LVMH among the biggest boosts.
The French group's top label Louis Vuitton said on Tuesday
it has hired Pharrell Williams to head artistic direction of its
menswear designs, with analysts optimistic about the decision.
France's CAC 40 index rose 1.2% to 7,300.86, coming
within a whisker of its all-time high of 7,384.86 hit in January
last year.
Europe's largest food retailer Carrefour jumped
8.5% to the top of the blue-chip index on a higher than expected
share buyback plan.
Also boosting the CAC was a 3.0% rise in shares of Gucci
owner Kering , with investor focus on the impact from
China's reopening overshadowing a slump in quarterly revenue.
"I think Chinese economic growth is likely to rebound quite
strongly. With the reopening, the biggest impact would be on the
consumption side (like) luxury goods, transportation companies,
airlines," said Marija Veitmane, senior multi-asset strategist
at State Street Global Markets.
Industrials were a big boost to the STOXX 600 on
Wednesday, boosted by gains in planemaker Airbus and
German engineering firm Siemens .
Meanwhile, a strong rebound in U.S. retail sales in January,
coming on the heels of mixed inflation data from the country,
exacerbated fears that the Fed was not close to ending its
interest rate hikes which hammered equities last year.
"The economy, particularly in the U.S., is still quite
strong. Inflation is still there, which means that central banks
need to keep monetary policy tight for longer," said Veitmane.
UK's export-oriented FTSE 100 index climbed 0.6% as
the sterling slid after data showed Britain's inflation
eased more than expected in January. The index briefly breached
the 8,000 points barrier level.
Shares of Barclays slumped 7.9% to the bottom of
the STOXX 600 as the bank's earnings were pressured by surging
costs, a collapse in deal fees and multi-million dollar fines.
European banks dropped 0.6%, while miners fell 0.7% on lower base and precious metal prices. Among other stocks, Heineken rose 2.8% on
higher-than-expected profit in 2022.
Ahold Delhaize jumped 8.0% as the retail group
reported stronger-than-expected quarterly core earnings.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Amruta Khandekar in
Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar; Editing
by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Josie Kao)
