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Investing.com – European stock markets edged higher Thursday, helped by the expectation of additional U.S. stimulus while Christmas trading reports flooded in from the retail sector.
At 4:10 AM ET (0910 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.4% higher after the Federal Statistics Office estimated that the economy shrunk by ‘only’ 5% last year, less than the 5.2% expected. The CAC 40 in France rose 0.3% and the U.K.’s FTSE index climbed 0.4%.
Tesco (OTC:TSCDY), the U.K.’s biggest food retailer, reported a 6.4% rise in comparable sales for the third quarter of its fiscal year and a 6.1% rise over the Christmas period. However, its stock fell 1.6% with its profit guidance for the year unchanged while Covid-related costs rose.
Associated British Foods (OTC:ASBFY), the owner of cut price fashion house Primark, stock fell 0.7% after the retailer said lost sales due to the pandemic will top one billion pounds, above the 650 million pounds previously mentioned. Fast-fashion rival Boohoo (LON:BOOH) stock fell 0.2% despite the company reporting surging sales during the lockdown and lifting its sales growth forecasts for 2021. It warned of an impact from higher administrative costs due to Brexit, but didn’t put a figure on this.
In France, meanwhile, Renault (PA:RENA) stock fell 2.6% with the struggling automaker unveiling a new strategic plan aimed at raising operating margins to over 5% by 2025, not least by cutting its output by over 20% in that period.
Elsewhere, shipping giant Maersk AS (OTC:AMKBY) rose 2.0% on data showing Chinese exports up 18% on the year in December.
The idea of additional stimulus in the U.S. has boosted global equity markets ever since the Democrats took the Senate at the start of the year, and was given another boost overnight after CNN reported that President-elect Joe Biden was mulling an additional package as large as $2 trillion.
However, gains are likely to be limited Thursday with governments across Europe tightening their coronavirus restrictions over fears about a fast-spreading strain first detected in the U.K..
Italy, whose government is on the verge of collapse, is set to extend its Covid-19 state of emergency to the end of April. The Netherlands will stretch its lockdown measures by at least three weeks, while France is thinking of lengthening its nationwide curfew.
In the U.S., the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump on the single charge of incitement of insurrection for his role in last week’s rampage on Capitol Hill, making him the first U.S. president to face two such trials.
Oil prices edged lower Thursday, with traders having to balance the pandemic impact on demand with a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. inventories.
U.S. crude oil supply data from the Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday showed a draw of 3.247 million barrels last week, the fifth week in a row of reductions.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.7% lower at $52.55 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 0.8% to $55.63.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.7% to $1,841.95/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.2155.
