European shares inch up after previous week's decline, Kering jumps
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3% at 546.37 points. (AFP pic)
FRANKFURT : European shares edged higher today, rebounding from last week's losses, as investors shook off jitters stemming from escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while Kering soared after a report that it could tap Renault's top boss.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3% at 546.37 points at 8.45am.
Gucci parent Kering jumped 10.2%, among the biggest percentage gainers, after a report said Luca de Meo could become the new CEO, having previously turned around troubled Renault.
Shares of the French automaker fell 2.6%, to the lowest rungs of the index. A separate report said Tokyo's Nissan planned to reduce its stake in Renault.
Ladbrokes owner Entain also jumped 10% after its US sports-betting joint venture with MGM Resorts- BetMGM – raised its annual revenue and core earnings forecast.
The travel and leisure sector rose 1.9%, leading sectoral gains.
'We still have European equities hovering around highs… the equity market been very positive in its assessment of what's going to happen (tariffs and growth policies) and there a lot of positivity baked into the European stocks at the moment,' said Jacob Pederson, head of equity research at Sydbank.
Conversely, heavyweight healthcare stocks fell 0.8%, leading sectoral declines, after posting gains in the last five weeks.
Geopolitical tensions continued to dominate headlines as the conflict between Israel and Iran showed no signs of cooling.
Iranian missiles struck Israel's Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa before dawn today, in the latest series of tit-for-tat attacks that started last week.
The escalating tensions give markets another cause of worry as they were already grappling with the ramifications of a changing US tariff policy.
'Geopolitics will have an impact on Europe, but today is just a rebound after a couple of rough days,' said Pederson.
The benchmark index logged a weekly decline on Friday as tensions in the Middle East ramped up and a US trade truce with China offered little clarity on how the longstanding trade differences between them could be solved.
This week, the monetary policy meetings of the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve will be watched for insights on how the central banks plan to navigate US tariff-driven uncertainty.
Additionally, any clues on tariffs from the Group of Seven meeting in Canada will also be scrutinised.
Among other stocks, London's Spectris gained 5.9% after the scientific instruments maker rejected a second takeover proposal from private equity firm KKR on Friday.
Symrise fell 3.2% after Jefferies downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'hold'.
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