Original title: [European Express] European stocks rose across the board Meggitt soared more than 50% euro zone manufacturing PMI rose slightly
Source: FX168
European stock markets followed positive sentiment in global markets on Monday, Aug. 2, as corporate earnings boosted share prices.
As of this release (17:05 Beijing time), the UK's FTSE 100th index, France's CAC index and Germany's DAX index rose by 0.96%, 0.92% and 0.37%, respectively.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.7% in early trading, led by a 2% rise in auto stocks, and almost all sectors and major exchanges entered the rising zone.
In the US, stock futures rose in pre-market trading as strong corporate earnings and bipartisan progress on the $1,000bn infrastructure bill outweighed concerns about the spread of delta variants.
CCFA-PFA, a French carmaker lobby, said on Sunday that a global shortage of semiconductors and a surge in infections were hampering the prospects for a rebound in the French car market.
Parker-Hannifin, the US industrial company, said on Monday that it had agreed to buy UK rival Meggitt for £6.3 billion ($8.76 billion), sending Meggitt's shares soaring more than 56 per cent in early trading.
Shares in Allianz, the German insurer, fell 5.9 per cent to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 index after the US Justice Department launched an investigation into Allianz Global Investors's Structured Alpha Funds division.
Enterprise financial report
HSBC's first-half profit more than doubled from a year earlier to $10.84 billion, but the UK bank's London-listed shares rose briefly in early trading before falling.
Heineken also doubled its operating profit in the first half to 1.63 billion euros ($1.93 billion), but warned that costs would rise. Shares in the world's second-largest brewer hovered near the flat line on Monday morning.
On the economic front, German retail sales rose 4.2 per cent in June, down from the revised 4.6 per cent last month; the most closely watched was the manufacturing PMI data for the entire eurozone, which recorded a slight increase from 62.6 the previous month; Germany's manufacturing PMI index also rose slightly to 65.9 from 65.6 in July.
Friday's July non-farm payrolls report will be the main economic data for the week, as it could affect the Fed's thinking about when to start reducing its bond purchases, and Fed board member Lael Brainard reiterated the central bank's attention to the progress of the labour market over the weekend.