European Stocks Close On Strong Note As Banking Crisis Worries Ease Further

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a strong note on Wednesday as sentiment remained positive amid easing worries about global banking crisis.

The mood was further lifted by data showing a significant improvement in German consumer confidence, and announcement from Chinese tech major Alibaba that it will split the firm into six business groups to "unlock shareholder value."

Top U.S. regulators expressed confidence that banks were solvent, blaming the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on mismanagement, rather than systemic risks.

The pan European Stoxx 600 surged 1.3%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.07%, Germany's DAX climbed 1.23% and France's CAC 40 gained 1.39%, while Switzerland's SMI ended 1.15% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye all ended on the positive side, posting sharp to moderate gains.

In the UK market, Ocado Group climbed 7.7%. Prudential, M&G, Barclays, Land Securities, Phoenix Group Holdings, Legal & General Group, Tesco, 3I Group, Persimmon, Entain, British Land Co., Taylor Wimpey, Hiscox, HSBC Holdings and Scottish Mortgage gained 2.3 to 4.2%.

Next drifted down 4.3% after the British clothing retailer kept its guidance for a 1.5% decline in full-price sales and profit of 795 million pounds for 2023-24.

In the German market, Shares of German chipmaker Infineon Technologies surged nearly 7% after the company raised its outlook for both its financial second quarter and the whole of 2023.

Vonovia rallied 5.7%, Adidas surged 3.7% and Puma gained 3.2%.

Deutsche Bank, Zalando, Siemens, Porsche, BASF, RWE, Covestro, Henkel and Allianz gained 1.5 to 2.5%.

Mercedes-Benz ended more than 2% down on news that Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund is planning to reduce its stake in the luxury carmaker.

Siemens Healthineers, Daimler and Merck also ended weak.

In Paris, ArcelorMittal gained more than 3%. Veolia, Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas, Unibail Rodamco, AXA, Engie, Schneider Electric, Societe Generale, Capgemini, Airbus Group, Credit Agricole, Safran, Vinci and Saint Gobain advanced 1.5 to 3%.

In economic releases, confidence among German consumers strengthened for the sixth consecutive month on improving income expectations, a closely watched survey by the market research group GfK revealed.

The consumer confidence index for April climbed to -29.5 from -30.6 in March, the Nuremberg-based GfK said.

French consumer confidence deteriorated to a six-month low in March on weak assessment about past and future standard of living, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed. The consumer sentiment index fell slightly to 81 in March, as expected, from 82 in February. But this was the lowest score since September.

Separate data showed U.K. mortgage approvals increased for the first time in six months in February despite rising interest rates and high inflation weighing on the housing affordability.

Mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to 43,500 in February from 39,600 in January, the Bank of England reported Wednesday. This was the first monthly increase since August 2022. This also exceeded economists' forecast of 40,500.