European stocks rose on Monday, as traders awaited the results of the operations of several major banks, while the shares of the Portuguese company GALP jumped to the highest level in 16 years after a good result on gas exploration in Namibia..
During trading, the European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.5 percent, led by banks’ gains of 0.5 percent..
European bank earnings will be in the spotlight this week as traders look for a clearer picture of whether higher interest rates are still boosting profits or whether the year-long rally in stock prices will begin to lose weight ..
BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Lloyds will all announce their earnings later this week..
Among the stocks that made strong gains, Galb Energia jumped 17 percent after the Portuguese company said the Mopan field off the coast of Namibia could contain at least ten billion barrels of oil..
Alstom shares gained 4.9 percent after the French train maker agreed to sell its North American standard rail signaling business unit to German rail systems manufacturer Knorr-Bremse for about 630 million euros ($671 million)..
Japan
Japan’s Nikkei index rose, recovering from some of the heavy losses it suffered in the previous session, but a decline in chip-related stocks capped gains.
The Nikkei index closed up 1 percent to 37,438.61 points after dipping slightly earlier in the session. Among the 225 companies listed in the index, 196 stocks rose and 28 stocks fell, with one stock remaining stable..
“The index continued its gains near the close as traders bought stocks that had fallen sharply,” said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager of the research department at Tachibana Securities.».
On Friday, the index fell 2.66 percent, its worst session in more than a year and a half, amid fears that the conflict would escalate in the Middle East..
“In general, the market was consistent with the exception of chip-related stocks, which found declines in their US counterparts at the end of last week,” said Shuji Hosui, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities.».
US chip-related stocks fell on Friday, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling 4.12 percent. The index recorded its biggest weekly decline in almost two years, amounting to 9.23 percent.
Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron closed down 3.22 percent, although it recovered some of its early losses. Shares of Advantest, a maker of chip test equipment, fell 3.92 percent, while shares of Disco, a supplier of chip-making equipment, fell 4.38 percent..
Shares of chip maker Renesas Electronics fell by 3.3 percent.
Nissan Motor shares lost 1.96 percent after the automaker cut its annual operating profit estimate by 14.5 percent on Friday, citing lower-than-expected car sales and other factors..
On the other hand, shares of Fast Retailing, which owns the clothing brand Uniqlo, jumped 2.3 percent, becoming the biggest supporter of the Nikkei index. Robotics maker Fanuc gained 3.77 percent.
The broader Topix index closed 1.38 percent higher at 2,662.46 points.
About 88 percent of the more than 1,600 stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose.
All but two of the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 sub-indexes rose. Indexes of energy exploration companies and refinery companies fell 0.59 percent and 0.06 percent, respectively.
2024-04-22 10:11:37
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