© Archyde.com. A screen displays data from the German DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Thursday. Photograph: Archyde.com.
(Archyde.com) – European shares rebounded on Thursday, led by industrial and luxury goods stocks, while gains were limited by persistent concerns about slowing economic growth and rising prices.
The pan-European index rose 0.6 percent after losing nearly two percent in the past two sessions.
Trading volumes were expected to be limited with London markets closed for the Queen Elizabeth platinum jubilee bank holiday.
Shares of luxury goods companies, including LVMH, L’Oreal and Essilor Luxottica, rose between 1.7 and 3.1 percent, providing the largest support for the index.
Oil stocks fell, even as crude prices compensated for losses incurred earlier, after OPEC + agreed to boost crude production to compensate for the decline in Russian production.
Shares of Shell, listed in Amsterdam and Equinor, fell 0.5 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
Data showed producer prices in the region rose 1.2 percent in April from the previous month, missing economists’ expectations for a 2.3 percent rise. This came on the heels of data released earlier this week that showed consumer prices in the region rose to a record level.
Government bond yields jumped to multi-year highs as inflation data this week reinforced expectations that the European Central Bank may accelerate the policy tightening path.
Fears of slowing growth gripped the markets as global central banks sought to try to tame soaring inflation without pushing economies into recession. The Stoxx 600 index is on track to end the week, down 0.6 percent.
Among other stocks, Scandinavian airline SAS rose 1.3 percent, boosted by a report that a group of foreign investors was exploring an acquisition.
(Prepared by Mustafa Saleh for the Arabic Bulletin)