European shares rose in Monday’s stock market as investors bullish about the global economic recovery looked ahead to a busy week. The U.S. economic data is expected to underscore the strength of the rebound.
Asian shares got off to a slow start, with China, Japan and Britain closed for public holidays. Volumes were thin with most markets slipping into the red.
The optimistic mood, however, has extended into May in Europe. It was enhanced by a strong run of corporate earnings the past two weeks.
In early trading, the Euro STOXX index added 0.68%. The German DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.7% and 0.61%, respectively.
Higher Wall Street futures pointed to yet more gains. This followed after stock markets notched up another round of record highs last week.
On the day, the MSCI world equity index was unchanged. It was below record highs, as losses in Asia offset the gains in Europe. The index tracks shares in 49 countries.
The sense that the global economy is about to boom, with countries coming out of lockdowns, fuels investors’ enthusiasm for riskier assets. Consumers and businesses are unleashing some of their excess savings built up over the past year.
Retail sales data for March in Germany came in much better than expected.
Business surveys have recently indicated growing confidence about the recovery.
Australia Stocks Higher at Close
On Monday after the close, Australia stocks were higher. Leading the shares higher were gains in the Financials, Telecoms Services and A-REITs sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.04% at the close in Sydney.
On the S&P/ASX 200, the session’s best performers were Pointsbet Holdings Ltd, rising 5.59% or 0.76 points to trade at 14.36 at the close.
Moreover, TPG Telecom Ltd added 5.44% or 0.300 points to end at 5.810. Westpac Banking Corp rose 5.00% or 1.250 points to 26.230 in late trade.
On the other hand, the worst performers of the session were Omni Bridgeway Ltd, falling 5.60% or 0.21 points to trade at 3.54 at the close.
Credit Corp Group Ltd lost 5.10% or 1.48 points to end at 27.55 and AP Eagers Ltd dropped 4.53% or 0.71 points to 14.95.
On the Sydney Stock Exchange, falling stocks outnumbered the advancing ones by 908 to 490 and 345 ended unchanged.
