ROME: European stocks surged for a fourth day, increasing to the highest level in seven years.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4 percent to 354.56 at 8:06 a.m. in London, as banks and chemical companies led gains among the 19 industry groups. The equity benchmark has rallied 4.4 percent in the four days since the Swiss central bank unexpectedly abandoned its currency peg against the euro, strengthening the case for quantitative easing by the European Central Bank on Jan. 22.
ECB President Mario Draghi will make his biggest push yet to steer the euro area away from deflation by announcing quantitative easing at this week’s meeting according to 93 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg News survey. The ECB president will probably announce a 550 billion-euro ($637 billion) bond purchase program, economists say.
In Germany, a report from the ZEW Center for European Economic Research due at 11 a.m. Frankfurt time may show investor confidence rose in January, according to forecasts.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.3 percent before U.S. markets open from a three-day weekend. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.7 percent as data showed Chinese gross domestic product expanded 7.3 percent in the three months through December from a year earlier, compared with the median estimate of 7.2 percent. Industrial output and retail sales for December also beat forecasts.
Among stocks moving on corporate news, Royal Philips NV gained 3.1 percent as Financieele Dagblad reported that private equity firms KKR & Co. and CVC Capital Partners Ltd. have a joint interest in the company’s lighting unit.
SAP SE dropped 3.5 percent after the largest maker of business-management software cut its 2017 profit target.
shanghai shares start week with losses 25 june 2018
Hong Kong, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jun, 2018 ) :Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stocks fell on...
