Live Markets: Half-time in Europe: moving on?

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17/04/2026 12:14

Adds new blog entry

STOXX 600 up 0.1%

Luxury, tech higher, energy weak

Alstom slumps after trading update

Wall St futures rise

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HALF-TIME IN EUROPE: MOVING ON?

     Stocks in Europe are a touch firmer on Friday and heading for a weekly rise on expectations that the worst of the Iran war is in the rear-view mirror.

"Barring any significant escalation, markets seem prepared to move on," writes Magne Østnor, strategist at DNB Carnegie.

The STOXX 600 .STOXX, up 0.1% on Friday, is now just 2.5% from its pre-war close.

Top performers on Friday are tech stocks .SX8P and luxury .STXLUXP. The latter has had a rollercoaster week with earnings from LVMH, Hermes and Kering.

Miners .SXPP and utilities .SX6P are weak. British utilities have been dragged lower after the FT said that finance minister Rachel Reeves pledged to cut the link between gas and electricity prices. The UK government also announced the removal of the Carbon Price Support from April 2028.

"We see this as a negative for UK generators," RBC analyst Alexander Wheeler said, who expects it to be negative for those with power price exposure such as Centrica, SSE and Drax.

(Samuel Indyk)

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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

FOMO PREVAILS CLICK HERE

STEADY START, SLUGGISH WEEK CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES SOFT CLICK HERE

MARKETS CATCH THEIR BREATH AS WEEKEND DIPLOMACY BECKONS CLICK HERE

How US markets have performed this year https://www.reuters.com/graphics/AUTOMATED-20260416/US-INDEX-COMPARISON-YTD/zjpqmodblpx/chart.png