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STOXX 600 hits one-month high
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Miners, automakers lead gains
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Euro zone retail sales fall in Feb
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UBS rises after JPM raises target price
(Updates to market close)
By Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar
April 11 (Reuters) - European shares hit a one-month
high on Tuesday, lifted by mining stocks, in an upbeat start to
a week filled with economic data, including a closely-watched
U.S. inflation report.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.6% higher,
extending gains for the second straight day. France's CAC 40
index closed up 0.9%, after hitting a record high.
Shares in miners rose 3.6%, logging their biggest
one-day percentage gain in more than four months as a softer
dollar helped drive gains in prices of base and precious metals.
Automakers rose too, with gains of 1.8%, while among
individual stocks, UBS rose 1.1% after JP Morgan raised
its target price.
Glencore rose 3.3% after the mining group proposed
introducing a cash component to its $22.5 billion bid for Teck
Resources .
European shares started 2023 on an upbeat note but came under selling pressure in the last two months with recent banking turmoil keeping risk sentiment fragile, while mixed economic data clouded the interest rate outlook. "We're going to wait and see how the U.S. does in the coming days but all in all, we're back on track and Europe can definitely pick up pace again," said Julius de Kempenaer, senior technical analyst at Stockcharts.com. After a strong U.S. jobs report last week raised bets of another 25 basis point rate hike from the Federal Reserve in May, investors will be watching out for March's consumer prices report on Wednesday for more clues on interest rates. In the euro zone, inflation data from Germany will also be on the radar after data on Tuesday showed euro zone retail sales fell 3% in February, less than forecast in a Reuters poll. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook slightly, warning of a hit from recent financial system turmoil. The IMF projected a contraction in Germany's economy in the first quarter, while it forecast a smaller hit to Britain's economy than previously expected. Investor morale in the euro zone improved in April after a surprise dip in March, a survey showed on Tuesday.
Leaving the door open for more interest rate hikes, European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker Pablo Hernandez de Cos said on Monday that core inflation in the euro zone is likely to stay high for the rest of 2023. (Reporting by Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
