European stocks rise
On Friday European stocks were positive as investors looked for bargains after one of the worst selloffs this year on global economic recovery concerns.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index increased by 0.8%, with sectors that were negative earlier this week like automakers and miners gaining more than 1% each. Banks rose by 0.7%, but were the worst hit this week as government bond yields fell sharply.
The benchmark STOXX 600 was on course to record small weekly losses after a fresh increase in COVID-19 cases, particularly in Asia, and underwhelming U.S. and Chinese economic data increased concerns about the strength of the recovery.
UK airlines such as British Airways-owner IAG, easyJet and Ryanair gained between 1.5% and 2% as Britain planned removing quarantine for fully-vaccinated arrivals from other countries in the coming weeks. European travel and leisure stocks were the top sectoral gainers, up 1.8%.
Data published earlier showed UK’s post-lockdown economic recovery dropped sharply in May despite a reduction of
COVID-19-related controls. French planemaker Airbus increased by 3.5% after it reported a 52% rise in deliveries in the first half of the year.
British luxury goods group Burberry gained 3.3% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy”, while Italian rival Salvatore Ferragamo dropped 0.7% after the U.S. bank downgraded it to “sell”.
Investors will shift their attention on the earnings season, which starts off in earnest next week. Most of the European companies are expected to report later this month, with analysts expecting a near-109% increase in second-quarter profit for STOXX 600 companies, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Asian shares dropped to twomonth lows and were positioned for their worst weekly performance since mid-May as confidence took a hit over the global spread of the Delta virus variant and concerns it could impede a worldwide economic revival.
MSCI’s broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan went as deep as 665.19, a level not seen since mid-May. It pared some of the losses to be last down 0.3% at 672.29.