Europe’s main stock markets posted mild gains in cautious trading yesterday as investors awaited key economic data and US company results for fresh direction.
London’s FTSE 100 index of top shares rose 0.69 per cent to end the day at 5,742.52 points.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added 0.37 per cent to close at 6,516.63 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.19 per cent to finish at 3,834.50.
Elsewhere there were gains of 0.93 in Milan, 0.27 per cent in Madrid, 0.08 per cent in Amsterdam and 0.42 per cent on the Swiss Market Exchange.
Equities edged ahead in cautious trade “as traders brace themselves for a potentially volatile week with some key economic releases due”, said IG Index analyst Chris Weston.
Britain’s government will publish a comprehensive spending review tomorrow, as it seeks to balance the books and slash an enormous deficit.
Ahead of the review, European investors will focus on Germany’s latest ZEW business sentiment survey data due today.
“The US third-quarter earnings season remains in full flow, too, with Apple’s numbers likely to dominate after Wall Street closes tonight,” said Mr Weston.
European markets and Wall Street were buoyed yesterday by US banking giant Citigroup posting a robust profit of $2.2 billion in the third quarter of the year, beating analyst’s expectations.
On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average had climbed 0.43 per cent to reach 11,110.65 points at mid-day, when the Nasdaq was up 0.06 per cent at 2,470.18.
“The US equity markets are nearly unchanged in early action with traders grappling with a better-than-forecasted profit report from Citigroup Inc and lingering concerns regarding the potential impact on the financial sector of a festering foreclosure problem,” said analysts at Charles Schwab.
The markets were even able shrug off an unexpected fall of 0.2 per cent in industrial output in September, the first drop in production since the recession ended.
“Thank you Citigroup for supporting the banking sector, which had tripped up on the history of property foreclosures in the United States,” said Yves Marcais at Global Equities.
In Milan, Enel’s shares posted a 1.01 per cent gain to €3.9875 as it kicked off Europe’s biggest initial public offering since 2007 by floating shares in its renewable energy subsidiary Enel Green Power.
Asian stocks meanwhile fell yesterday as traders were underwhelmed by the US Federal Reserve’s strongest indication yet that it will inject cash into the economy.
Hong Kong lost 1.21 per cent, Shanghai dipped 0.54 per cent and Sydney ended down 0.79 per cent, while Tokyo closed just 0.02 per cent lower.