Europe on the rise, Ermotti’s return to UBS supports banks
The main European stock markets rose on Wednesday in the first exchanges, driven in particular by the banking sector, with the announcement of the return of Sergio Ermotti at the head of UBS, and by the recovery of the new technologies index, thanks to Infineon and Alibaba.
In Paris, the CAC 40 took 0.72% to 7,139.14 points around 08:40 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 advances by 0.41% and in Frankfurt, the Dax gains 0.44%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index rose by 0.7%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.6% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.52%.
Futures contracts on Wall Street also predict a rise of 0.52% for the Dow Jones, 0.76% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.82% for the Nasdaq.
In other corporate news, Infineon soared 7.49% as it raised its financial guidance for the second quarter and full year. The new technologies index took 1.8% after its sharp drop in recent sessions linked to the rise in bond yields. The Chinese giant Alibaba, which will split into six units, is also supporting the sector, its share jumping 16.3% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and 14.3% on Wall Street.
On the downside, Mercedes-Benz fell 2.34% after information that the Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund, the third shareholder of the German car manufacturer, plans to reduce its stake in the group to less than 5%.
In today’s economic indicators, German consumer sentiment is expected to pick up in April with lower energy prices, according to the GfK institute, while in France household confidence fell slightly in March, d after the INSEE survey.
This article is originally published on usinenouvelle.com
