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European Market Updates

European Markets Turn Positive Ahead Of Jobs Data

By RTTNews Staff Writer   ✉  | Published:  | Google News Follow Us  | Join Us
rttnewslogo20mar2024

The European markets turned positive on Friday after a weak start, ahead of the key monthly jobs report from the U.S. Major markets across Asia/Pacific ended mixed while the U.S. index futures are higher.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.42 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is rising 0.45 percent.

The German DAX is gaining 0.39 percent and the French CAC 40 is adding 0.48 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 is rising 0.47 percent and Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.53 percent.

In Frankfurt, MunichRe is climbing 1.9 percent. Commerzbank raised the stock to "Buy" from "Hold."

Infineon Technologies, truckmaker MAN and steel giant ThyssenKrupp are notably higher.

Commerzbank is up 0.9 percent, while Deutsche Bank is losing moderately.

Daimler and BMW are in positive territory, while Volkswagen is losing.

Retailer Fielmann is gaining 0.8 percent. Cheuvreux cut the stock to "Underperform" from "Outperform."

In Paris, Societe Generale is climbing 4.6 percent. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are advancing 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Deutsche Bank raised BNP Paribas to "Buy" from "Hold."

Alcatel Lucent is adding 2.5 percent. EADS is up 2.1 percent.

Peugeot and Renault are rising 1.9 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Deutsche Bank reinitiated Carrefour with a "Hold" rating. The stock is up 0.4 percent.

Cosmetics giant Loreal is losing 0.8 percent and luxury goods firm LVMH is falling 0.7 percent.

In London, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are losing 1.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

Admiral Group is climbing over 8 percent. Man Group is gaining 3 percent.

BT Group is gaining 3.6 percent. The internet service provider reported an increase in profit for the third quarter, adding that it expects to achieve its EBITDA target of above 6 billion pounds set for 2013 a year earlier than planned.

Lender Barclays is climbing 1.6 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland is rising 1.7 percent.

Financial software provider Misys is losing 0.8 percent after confirming that it is in preliminary discussions with Temenos Group regarding a possible strategic combination. Temenos is surging 8.4 percent in Zurich.

Royal Dutch Shell is losing 0.8 percent. Barclays cut the stock to "Equalweight" from "Overweight."

Volvo is rising 1.8 percent in Stockholm. The company reported a 46 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit.

Bekaert is losing 3.5 percent in Brussels after the wire & cable firm was reportedly downgraded at ING.

Inditex is losing 0.3 percent in Madrid after HSBC downgraded the stock to "Neutral" from "Overweight."

UBS cut BBVA to "Sell" from "Neutral." The stock is up 1.4 percent.

In economic news, Germany's private sector output expanded in January at the fastest pace since June 2011, but the increase was slightly weaker than the flash estimate, final data from Markit Economics showed.

Eurozone retail sales fell 0.4 percent in December from the prior month, Eurostat reported Friday. Economists were expecting turnover to expand 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, activity in the French service sector increased more than previously estimated in January, final data from a survey by Markit Economics revealed.

A report from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the British economy is likely to return to technical recession in the first half of this year.

Across Asia/Pacific, major markets had a mixed outing. Australia's All Ordinaries lost 0.30 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 retreated 0.51 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.77 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively.

In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages closed on opposite sides of the unchanged line, with the Dow posting a modest loss of 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent.

In the commodity space, crude for March delivery is rising $0.53 to $96.89 per barrel, while April gold is advancing $3.2 to $1762.5 a troy ounce.

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Market Analysis

Global Economics Weekly Update - Jun 08-12, 2026

June 12, 2026 17:14 ET
Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.