LONDON, Dec 20 — European stocks rose today, as Italian shares outperformed on positive company updates, although trading volumes thinned going into the Christmas holiday.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.2 per cent, on course to gain for a second week and about 1 per cent below record highs.
That followed record-setting gains for Wall Street yesterday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said an initial US-China trade deal would be signed in early January.
“2019 was a year dominated by the US-China trade war and Brexit and at least in the near term, we seem to have wrapped up on those two fronts,” David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets in London.
Milan-listed shares outperformed with an 0.6 per cent rise, boosted by Italy’s biggest utility, Enel. Its shares rose 1 per cent after Moody’s improved its outlook on the Latin American unit Enel Americas to positive.
Payments group Nexi gained 0.7 per cent after Intesa SanPaolo said it was selling its retailers’ payment business to Nexi in a €1 billion (RM4.5 billion) deal.
Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC gained about 0.2 per cent.
London’s exporter-heavy FTSE 100 was flat as the pound recovered after a tumultuous run on fears of a hard Brexit.
The final reading on Britain’s third quarter growth showed the economy grew a little faster than first estimated and the country’s current account deficit shrank to its smallest since 2012.
The British parliament is set to vote on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit withdrawal agreement bill. The Johnson government’s majority in parliament means the bill should pass easily.
Among individual stocks, Royal Dutch Shell slipped 0.8 per cent after saying it expects impairment charges of up to US$2.3 billion (RM9.5 billion) in the fourth quarter.
Adidas was down 0.4 per cent after Nike reported disappointing growth in North America, its biggest market. — Reuters
