Markets

European stocks close higher as traders assess earnings, economic data

Key Points
  • The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed Friday's session down around 0.8% after an unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs report lowered expectations for a recession.
  • Corporate earnings continue to drive individual share price movement in Europe, with Siemens Energy, Porsche and BioNTech among the companies reporting before the bell on Monday.

LONDON — European markets closed higher on Monday as investors continued to monitor corporate earnings and key economic data points, assessing the risk of recession.

European markets


The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed up 0.8%, with retail stocks adding 2.5% to lead gains as almost all sectors and major bourses climbed into positive territory.

The European blue chip index closed Friday's session down around 0.8% after an unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs report lowered expectations for a recession, and in turn increased the likelihood of the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy more aggressively to bring down inflation.

Markets in Asia-Pacific closed mixed overnight, with Hong Kong's tech-heavy Hang Seng index weighing down the region.

U.S. stocks nudged higher after the S&P 500 closed out a third straight positive week, with investors turning their attention to a key inflation report on Wednesday.

"In the same way that Erwin Schrödinger's cat was both dead and alive at the same time, the global economy may be both in a recession and not — at least not yet."
James Pomeroy
Global Economist, HSBC

On the data front in Europe, August's Sentix economic sentiment index for the euro zone rose fractionally from the previous month, but still pointed to a high likelihood of recession across the 19-member common currency bloc.

"In the same way that Erwin Schrödinger's cat was both dead and alive at the same time, the global economy may be both in a recession and not — at least not yet," said HSBC Global Economist James Pomeroy.

"Over the past month, the confusing signals haven't gotten any clearer, with a second quarterly contraction in US GDP being at odds with firmer monthly data, upside surprises to GDP data in Europe and a number of releases suggesting that consumers keep spending despite their downbeat outlook."

Corporate earnings continued to drive individual share price movement in Europe, with Siemens Energy, Porsche and BioNTech among the companies reporting before the bell on Monday.

British financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown gained more than 7% to lead the Stoxx 600 after Deutsche Bank raised its price target for the stock.

At the bottom of the index, British media company Future fell 5%.

Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.