European stocks higher as German gloom fuels ECB hopes

October 08, 2019 | 10:47

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Europe's stock markets pushed higher on Monday (Oct 7) as investors bet that gloomy German economic data would help persuade the European Central Bank to continue its "accommodative" monetary policy, dealers said.

european stocks higher as german gloom fuels ecb hopes

Logo of the London Stock Exchange.

Frankfurt rose 0.7 per cent and Paris added 0.6 per cent following news that German industrial orders fell in August.

New contracts in Germany were down 0.6 per cent compared with July, federal statistics authority Destatis said, disappointing analysts' predictions for a 0.6 per cent increase.

London stocks climbed 0.6 per cent.

The bright performance at the start of the week followed strong gains in Wall Street action on Friday.

"We are in a ... scenario where bad news is good news," ThinkMarkets analyst Naeem Aslam told AFP.

"Any weakness in the economic numbers, which we experienced today, confirms that the European Central Bank is going to remain accommodative and this helps investors to favour riskier assets" such as stocks.

Most markets also rose in Asia after a mixed US jobs report eased worries about a recession in the world's top economy - and maintained expectations the Federal Reserve will press on with interest rate cuts.

However, there was some nervousness after reports said China had cut back on the number of areas it is willing to discuss at this week's top-level trade talks with the US, rekindling concerns about the chances of any agreement between the two.

After a string of below-par data last week that highlighted the impact of Donald Trump's trade war on the key manufacturing and services sectors, Friday's much-anticipated non-farm payrolls figures showed unemployment at a 50-year low in September.

But the pace of job creation was the slowest in four months, wages fell and the manufacturing workforce also shrank for the second time this year.

CHINA'S 'CALCULATION'

Focus turns this week to the resumption of high-level trade talks between China and the United States in Washington.

However, while there has been a broad expectation the two sides are coming together in some areas owing to their economies stuttering, reports said Beijing was looking to narrow the remit of any deal.

Bloomberg News reported that top negotiator Vice Premier Liu He said he would not put on the table reforms to Chinese industrial policy or government subsidies, a key source of anger within the White House.

"Thursday's US-China trade talks will be in play this week, but already traders are managing their expectations as it seems that China won't budge on certain issues," said market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

Wall Street stocks were mixed in late morning trading, with the Dow slipping less than 0.1 per cent.

Oil prices meanwhile rebounded sharply from last week's heavy losses as bargain hunters moved in.

"The oil market ... is trading positive today after suffering from heavy losses last week," said ThinkMarkets' Aslam.

"It was the string of dismal economic numbers that sparked the (oil market) sell-off because traders became concerned about global growth."

Key figures around 1530 GMT:

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 per cent at 7,197.88 points (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.6 per cent at 5,521.61 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.7 per cent at 12,097.43 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 per cent at 3,467.93

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 per cent at 21,375.25 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: Closed for a public holiday

Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a public holiday