European stocks spring higher on reviving reflation trade

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli AG

25/07/2017 08:00

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - Strength among commodity firms 
and banking stocks as well as a string of solid updates boosted 
European shares in early deals on Tuesday. 
    Earnings season remains front and center for equities 
investors though focus will also be on the two-day U.S. Federal 
Reserve meeting which gets underway later in the day. 
    The pan-European STOXX 600  .STOXX  index rose 0.3 percent, 
bolstered by strength in mining firms  .SXPP  and banks  .SX7P  
while blue chips  .STOXX50E  gained 0.4 percent. 
    Germany's DAX  .GDAXI  rose 0.1 percent, and the 
commodity-heavy FTSE 100  .FTSE  was up 0.5 percent.     
    Corporate results season gathered steam with British 
property developer Segro  SGRO.L  and business media group 
Informa  INF.L  leading STOXX risers after well-received 
first-half updates, both gaining around 4.5 percent.     
    Europe's tech sector  .SX8P  was also buoyant after iPhone 
supplier AMS  AMS.S  raised its mid-term revenue target, while  
computer peripherals and mobile speaker maker Logitech  LOGN.S  
also raised its outlook. 
    Dutch paints maker Akzo Nobel  AKZO.AS  was one of the 
biggest individual drags on the STOXX, however, falling 1.3 
percent after its second quarter profit missed forecasts. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1KG0LS 
   Updates also weighed on paper maker UPM  UPM.HE , chemicals 
firm Croda International  CRDA.L , chocolate-maker Lindt & 
Spruengli  LISN.S  and Domino's Pizza  DOM.L , which all fell 
between 3 percent to 6.5 percent.          
    While it is still early days for the European second quarter 
earnings season as only 20 percent of firms have given updates, 
more than half of those firms have beaten analysts' 
expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.     
    European deal-making also rolled on with U.S. retailer 
Michael Kors  KORS.N  agreeing to buy luxury shoemaker Jimmy 
Choo  CHOO.L  for $1.2 billion, sending Jimmy Choo's shares up 
16.8 percent to an all-time high.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1KG12H         
 
 (Reporting by Kit Rees, Editing by Helen Reid) 
 ((kit.rees@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 2784;)) 
 
Keywords: EUROPE STOCKS/