©Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The DAX chart of the German stock index is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, February 9, 2024. REUTERS/Staff/File Photo
By Shubham Batra and Khushi Singh
(Reuters) – European shares rose on Monday, supported by Wall Street momentum that pushed them to close above 5,000 for the first time, as investors weighed earnings and economic data for insight into the European Central Bank’s rate outlook .
The pan-European index rose 0.3% and settled around two-year highs, with all sectors trading in the green.
Italian stocks outperformed regional stocks with a 0.6% increase, hitting their highest level since June 2008.
Rate-sensitive real estate stocks led gains among sectors, rising 1.2% and on track to post their best day in nearly three weeks.
“Politicians continue to say they are encouraged by the progress made on inflation, but they still sound a note of caution and that’s why I think we’ve seen some revision in market expectations about interest rate cuts,” he said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“However, several rate cuts are still expected and this is partly what fuels the enthusiasm.”
This week is packed with economic data, including fourth-quarter eurozone GDP growth, consumer price inflation in Spain and other regions, and the ZEW survey to gauge industry expectations about the state of the economy of the region.
Across the Atlantic, investors will be closely monitoring January’s U.S. consumer price index data on Tuesday for clues about the potential timing of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Among individual investors, Tod’s shares rose 17.2% after private equity firm L Catterton said it will launch a takeover bid to buy 36% of the luxury shoe maker at 43 euros a share .
Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) rose 1.1% following news that its controlling shareholder, Novo Holdings, plans to invest up to $7 billion annually by 2030.
Saras fell 5.4% as global commodities trader Vitol
has decided to buy 35% of the oil refinery from the Italian Moratti family at 1.75 euros per share, valuing the entire group at 1.7 billion euros.
Just Eat Takeaway and Delivery Hero were the best performers on the STOXX 600, rising 6.0% and 5.0% respectively, after Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the stocks.
Siemens Energy advanced more than 4% after an upgrade by BofA Global Research.
Meanwhile, at 9.45 GMT, comments from the ECB’s chief economist, Philip Lane, and the governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos, will also be on investors’ radar.