European Shares Crawl Higher to One-Week High on Tech Boost

By Pranav Kashyap

(Reuters) – Europe’s main stock index moved higher on Friday after a two-day holiday, with modest gains seen earlier in the week, putting it on track to break a two-week losing streak.

The pan-European STOXX 600 ticked up 0.4%, to its highest since Dec. 19. It was set to gain 0.7% in the holiday-disrupted week.

Major bourses across the region recovered, Germany’s DAX was up 0.3%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.5%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading flat.

“We’re coming out of a Christmas holiday, and trading volumes are extremely weak. We cannot really draw conclusions about what we see these days,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Leading the charge in sectors, the technology stocks saw a 0.7% increase, while the healthcare sector also rose by 0.6%, boosted by a 3% gain in Novo Nordisk stock.

However, the insurance sector took a hit, dropping by 0.5%.

Despite the STOXX 600’s record highs earlier this year, its overall gain for 2024 stands at a modest 5.7%. A mix of geopolitical tensions, sluggish Chinese spending, and a lacklustre domestic economic outlook have contributed to this slow momentum.

Meanwhile, across the pond, the S&P 500 is having a stellar year, boasting a 26.6% increase as investors rally behind artificial intelligence.

“Europe is suffering because of soft economic outlook and soft economic growth, and partly due to soft economic growth in China,” Ozkardeskaya added.

“The continent is kind of in the crisis mode right now, compared to their U.S. peers, which are rather in a rally and euphoria mode,”.

With just a few more days to the New Year, investors are looking for any developments related to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s White House inauguration on Jan. 20.

His anticipated policies, already influencing the Federal Reserve’s monetary outlook, are seen as inflationary. The European Central Bank, having cut rates consecutively this year, has signalled potential trade tensions with the U.S. under Trump’s leadership.

Among stocks, Deliver Hero fell 5.7% after Taiwan Fair Trade Commission blocked the German online takeaway food company’s sale of its Foodpanda business in the country to Uber, citing decreased competition.

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Tasim Zahid)