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European stocks look set to log their biggest one-day gain in a week on Friday, driven by spillover from a positive Wall Street session after upbeat U.S. economic data. U.S. stock futures were higher.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index
SXXP,
climbed 0.7% to 425.96 after a modest decline on Thursday. The index is flat for the week. The German DAX
DAX,
jumped 0.9%, the French CAC 40
PX1,
rose 0.4% and the FTSE 100 index
UKX,
gained 0.7%. The pound
GBPUSD,
and euro
EURUSD,
were both higher against the dollar.
U.S. stock futures
YM00,
NQ00,
were up 0.3% across the board, following Thursday’s session that saw equities bounce back from deep declines to end higher, inspired by better-than-expected weekly jobless claims. President Joe Biden also announced a new U.S. COVID-19 vaccination target of 200 million shots during his first 100 days in office.
Mining and oil names were leading the gains in Europe, with shares of BP
BP,
BP,
up nearly 2% and Royal Dutch Shell
RDS.A,
RDSA,
gaining 1% and Rio Tinto shares up 3%. Also helping energy names was a more than 2% rise in oil prices
CL.1,
BRN00,
which climbed as a giant shipping container remained lodged in the crucial Suez Canal waterway.
On the data front, U.K. retail sales climbed 2.1% in February. Meanwhile, the U.K. government on Thursday voted to extend coronavirus emergency powers until September, while also approving the government’s plan to gradually ease the lockdown over the next three months.
Shares of shipping giant AP Moeller Maersk
MAERSK.B,
climbed 3.6%, tracking gains for some Asian shipping companies.
Shares of Banco Santander
SAN,
SAN,
climbed 3% after the Spanish lender said late Thursday that its board has approved a dividend of 2.75 European cents (3.23 U.S. cents) a share to be paid in cash.
Europe also got some mergers and acquisitions news as U.K. multinational insurer Aviva
AV,
announced the sale of its Polish unit to German insurer Allianz
ALV,
for €2.4 billion. Aviva shares rose 0.9% and Allianz shares gained 0.7%.
