AFP
European main stock markets drifted upwards yesterday as traders focused on the outlook for US stimulus and digested data from the eurozone’s biggest economies Germany — where industrial output faltered — and France.
Heavyweight miners fell, while shares in Europe’s biggest bank HSBC slipped amid a report that it was considering a float of its British arm.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index ending the day up 0.11% at 6,559.48 points and the CAC 40 in Paris also added 0.11% to 4,134.1 points.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 rose 0.25% to 9,195.17 points despite official data showing German industrial production shrank again in October, with economic activity down in all major sectors.
Meanwhile, France should post economic growth of 0.5% in the last quarter of this year, the Bank of France said, citing a “clear” rise in manufacturing and deliveries in most sectors.
Last Friday, official data showed that the US jobless rate dropped to a five-year low of 7% in November, from 7.3% in October.
The Labour Department added that the world’s biggest economy had added a healthy 203,000 jobs last month.
“Last Friday’s US jobs report is strong enough to warrant the Fed to announce a tapering of its monthly bond purchases at next week’s” monetary policy meeting, said Neil MacKinnon, economist at VTB Capital financial group.
The steady trickle of upbeat data increased the chances that the Federal Reserve would begin to wind down its stimulus programme sooner rather than later.
Fears of a reduction in the Fed’s $85bn a month bond-buying scheme — which has been credited with fuelling an equities rally in world markets — pushed down stocks last week.
However, analysts said the US central bank may hold off any taper at its December meeting because the pace of jobs growth is still below the levels seen at the start of the year, while fourth-quarter economic growth is expected to be sluggish.
The OECD, meanwhile, said yesterday that growth is strengthening in most advanced economies, beefing up the argument in favour of pulling back on stimulus.
In foreign exchange trading, the euro climbed to $1.3723 from $1.3705 late in New York on Friday.
The dollar rose to ¥103.21 from ¥102.85.
The British pound rose to €1.1955 and $1.6388.
Gold prices rose to $1,237 an ounce on the London Bullion Market from $1,233 on Friday.
US stocks pushed higher yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.12% to16,039.27 points in midday trading.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.27% to 1,810.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.22% to 4,071.26 points.