European Stocks Rise Led by Oil Stocks as Recession Fears Ease
European Stocks Rise Led by Oil Stocks as Recession Fears Ease
(Bloomberg) -- European shares advanced, snapping a four-session losing streak, as investors rotate out of cyclical sectors such as autos, miners and banks, and into defensive stocks including health care, food & beverages and real estate.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up 0.5 percent at its session peak as of 11:29 a.m. CET, after Japan led Asian markets higher and energy stocks increased with oil prices.
In the U.K., attention is once again on Brexit after Parliament took control of the process from Prime Minister Theresa May. U.S. index futures were also higher as fears triggered by an inverted U.S. yield curve, a key recession indicator, were easing. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged higher after closing below 2.4 percent on Monday
The main talking points continue to be the Brexit saga and the inverted yield curve in the U.S., said Martin Guri, head of Nordic strategy at Kepler Cheuvreux.
European autos were one of only two declining sectors, falling for a fifth day. The subgroup was dragged lower by luxury carmaker BMW following its warning of a “significant” drop in pretax profit this year and persisting tensions on trade wars and tariffs.
“Also important are the signals from the Chinese at the Boao forum (Asian Davos) and any comments from the ongoing U.S.-China trade deal talks,” Guri said. “Otherwise focus is on what companies are saying about the past quarter ahead of the upcoming reporting season.”
China’s Premier Li Keqiang is expected to travel to Boao to address the forum on Thursday and may give further hints of his measures and policies. Meanwhile, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will visit China for trade talks on March 28-29.
To contact the reporters on this story: Gabriella Lovas in Budapest at glovas2@bloomberg.net;Hanna Hoikkala in Stockholm at hhoikkala@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Paul Jarvis
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