Eurozone stocks start 2017 with a bang as share rally rolls on
Eurozone stocks started 2017 with a bang yesterday after manufacturing data showed the biggest ramp-up in production across the bloc for five years.
Germany’s Dax closed up one per cent to 11,598.33 points, its highest level in almost 17 months, while France’s Cac 40 closed up 0.4 per cent to 4,882.38 points.
The rise continues a so-called Santa rally in the UK and US, which drove the FTSE 100 to close 2016 at a record high of 7,142.83 points.
Read more: The ‘75% chance’ that the Santa Rally exists
The Eurozone’s blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.6 per cent to 3,308.67 points, its highest level since December 2015, after purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data for Eurozone factories reached 54.9, comfortably above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.
Major stock markets across Asia, as well as in the UK, US, Canada and Switzerland, were all closed yesterday to market the New Year holiday.
Read more: Eurozone consumer confidence reaches 20-month high
“After a rocky start to 2016 the FTSE 100’s new all-time highs can be put down to the stabilisation and recovery in three key sectors, namely mining, oil and gas, and banking, not to mention a weak pound,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, told Morning Wire
“For the FTSE to continue to push on towards new records these sectors need to be able to consolidate these gains while the weak recovery in the global economy needs to continue at its current rate.”