Portfolio

Europe close: Stocks end mixed ahead of speech by Fed's Powell

By Alexander Bueso

Date: Tuesday 07 Feb 2023

(Sharecast News) - European shares traded mixed on Tuesday, as investors kept a weary eye on a policy speech by US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell scheduled for later in the day.
In particular, they were on the lookout for any new signs on the direction that monetary policy in the US might take in the wake of the far stronger-than-expected US non-farm payrolls figures published on 3 February.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.23% at 458.19 but whereas Milan's FTSE Mib added 0.36% to 27,118.74, Germany's Dax drifted lower by 0.16% to 15,320.88.

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year German Bund was five basis points higher to 2.345% while Eur/usd dipped 0.2% to 1.0705.

In economic news, German industrial production fell more than expected in December, down 3.1% on the previous month, the federal statistical office said.

Analysts had forecast a fall 0.7% for the month. For full-year 2022 industrial production was 0.6% lower in calendar-adjusted terms year on year and down 5% from pre-Covid pandemic 2019.

In equity news, BP gained almost 8% as it more than doubled annual profits to $27bn, lifted its dividend by 10% and announced a $2.75bn share buyback.

Ambu was up 13% after the Danish medical device company reported strong first-quarter revenue results. Sales increased organically by 4%, while reported growth for the quarter was 10%, according to Ambu's interim report.

BNP Paribas shares reversed early losses to gain 3% as the lender posted lower-than-expected quarterly profits as a jump of its cost of risk and higher operating expenses offset a boom in its trading sales. The bank still raised its 2025 targets and announced a €5bn share buyback.

Ams-Osram slumped 15% after missing revenue forecasts and Nordic Semiconductor was off almost 18% as quarterly core profit estimates came in below expectations.



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