European markets edge higher despite Covid headwinds; Remy Cointreau up 11%
LONDON — European stocks inched higher on Thursday as investors continued to monitor the Covid crisis in the region and political developments in Germany.
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE | VOLUME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .FTSE | FTSE 100 | *FTSE | 7308.6 | 22.28 | 0.31 | 246803949 |
| .GDAXI | DAX | *DAX | 15916.59 | 38.2 | 0.24 | 37379129 |
| .FCHI | CAC 40 Index | CAC | 7070.32 | 28.09 | 0.4 | 32047321 |
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.2% by mid-afternoon, more than halving its opening gains, with utilities climbing 1.8% while travel and leisure stocks fell 1.4%
Investors were digesting the latest news out of Germany where a new coalition government deal between the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats was announced on Wednesday
The agreement will see Olaf Scholz, Germany’s former finance minister, become Germany’s new chancellor when Angela Merkel leaves the post in early December
European investors continue to monitor the acute Covid crisis in the region this week amid rising infections that have prompted a handful of countries to introduce new Covid restrictions
Italy announced Wednesday evening that it will introduce tighter Covid measures and Germany has narrowly avoided another lockdown with the incoming coalition reportedly wanting to wait and see if tighter Covid passport rules help to alleviate rising cases there. Nonetheless, incoming German leader Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that vaccinations are to be made compulsory for targeted groups
On the data front, Germany’s third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.7% quarter-on-quarter, fractionally below expectations, official statistics revealed Thursday
Germany’s GfK consumer sentiment barometer showed that spiking inflation and the surge in Covid-19 cases is weighing on consumer morale heading into December. The survey fell to -1.6 points from a revised 1.0 in November
In terms of individual share price movement, Remy Cointreau surged more than 11% to lead the Stoxx 600, after the French drinks group beat first-half profit expectations and raised its full-year outlook
At the bottom of the European blue chip index, Swedish online gambling company Evolution plunged more than 14% after launching an internal review into allegations of conducting gambling business in banned countries
Overnight in Asia-Pacific markets, shares were mixed as investors reacted to the Bank of Korea’s decision to raise its policy rate to 1%. The South Korean central bank’s decision followed a similar move by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Wednesday
