Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
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European stock markets have posted their best day’s trading in four months.
The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 index closed 2.2% higher, its biggest daily since 9th November 2020 (the day Pfizer and BioNTech reported their Covid-19 vaccine was 90% effective, sparking a huge global rally)
European Closing Bell
FTSE 100 +1.30% at 6,720
STOXX 50 +2.50% AT 3,762
CAC 40 +2.20% at 5,911
DAX +3.30% at 14,38
IBEX 35 +1.80% at 8,437
MIB +3.10% at 23,678
SMI +2.00% at 10,826
@Newsquawk
STOXX600 Sector % Chg
All positive
Aero: 4.68
Auto: 3.89
Banks: 3.77
Chem: 3.56
BasicRes: 3.38
Const/Mat: 3.03
IndGoods: 2.97
Insure: 2.83
Media: 2.8
Retail: 2.25
Travel: 2.09
Tech: 2.02
R Estate: 1.86
Health: 1.78
Telco: 1.62
Util: 1.42
FinSrv: 1.22
@PositiveSkugh https://t.co/UiTH5XOtsX
The London stock market also rallied into the close of trading, as anxiety over rising bond yields faded.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index has closed 88 points higher at 6719, a gain of 1.34% today. The rally was led by travel and hospitality stocks and other companies which will benefit from the economy reopening.
The main story at the moment for equities is not so much the movement in global markets overall but the moves beneath the surface. Most notably, there has been a significant rotation away from growth stocks, which were the big winners last year and indeed over the last decade, into cheaper unloved value stocks.
This move continued last week with value up close to 2% compared to a fall of just under 2% for growth. Since ‘vaccine’ day last November, which provided the initial catalyst for the rotation, value has gained 18% versus 4% for growth. Echoing this trend, the financial and energy sectors have gained as much as 25% over this period vs 8% for the tech sector. Similarly, the UK has gained 14% compared with a 4% increase for China.
