BRUSSELS, Feb 2 — European shares rose today as investors were hopeful of a faster economic recovery, while technology shares gained after French IT consulting group Atos ended talks of a potential takeover of US rival DXC Technology.
Shares in Atos SE gained 2.8 per cent after the firm said it has decided to discontinue talks about a potential US$10 billion (RM40.4 billion) acquisition of DXC Technology Co.
The European technology sector rose 1.3 per cent, while the STOXX 600 index gained 1.2 per cent. All of Europe’s major sector indexes were in positive territory in the first hour of trading.
An upbeat mood from Asian markets spilt over to Europe in early trading on hopes of more stimulus for the US economy.
Investors were awaiting negotiations on Tuesday between US President Joe Biden and Republican senators on a new Covid-19 support bill.
“Markets are inclined to look through a difficult situation and climb higher on the combination of vaccines, fiscal stimulus and central banks sticking to their very accommodative monetary policies,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
However, concerns around the potential economic damage from a new strain of the coronavirus in Europe and delays to vaccine roll-outs had hurt sentiment last week as the block urgently needs more shots to speed up its inoculation programme.
Focus also remained on earnings reports from across Europe, with Fresenius Medical Care tumbling 13.6 per cent after the world’s No.1 kidney dialysis firm warned its adjusted net profit would likely drop this year.
BP fell 3.4 per cent after its profit in the last quarter of 2020 sunk to US$115 million due to weak energy demand and poor trading results.
Retail frenzy pauses
Silver prices dropped more than 4 per cent on Tuesday, halting a rally to near 8-year highs in the previous session that was the latest move in two weeks of turmoil on financial markets fuelled by a pack of Reddit-centered individual investors.
A pause in the rally that drove up prices of the commodity as well as certain stocks including GameStop Corp has helped calm worries about potential losses incurred by certain hedge funds causing disruption to markets as a whole.
“With silver continuing to retreat from yesterday’s 8-year highs, and as yet no new contender for the latest Reddit darling, the markets felt calmer,” said financial analyst Connor Campbell at spreadbetters Spreadex. — Reuters
