{"id":112196,"date":"2025-02-21T14:42:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T10:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/?p=112196"},"modified":"2025-02-21T14:42:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T10:42:59","slug":"european-stocks-inch-higher-as-traders-weigh-business-activity-and-trade-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/european-stocks-inch-higher-as-traders-weigh-business-activity-and-trade-tensions\/02\/21\/market-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"European Stocks Inch Higher as Traders Weigh Business Activity and Trade Tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>European markets <strong>edged up on Friday<\/strong>, as investors assessed fresh business activity data and <strong>ongoing geopolitical risks<\/strong>, including <strong>trade tensions and defense spending concerns<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of <strong>04:21 ET (09:21 GMT)<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>STOXX 600<\/strong> rose <strong>0.3% to 552.56<\/strong>, though it was <strong>set for a weekly loss<\/strong>, snapping an <strong>eight-week winning streak<\/strong>\u2014the longest since <strong>March 2024<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>France\u2019s CAC 40<\/strong> gained <strong>0.4%<\/strong>, while <strong>Germany\u2019s DAX<\/strong> and the <strong>UK\u2019s FTSE 100<\/strong> remained <strong>broadly unchanged<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Geopolitical and Trade Uncertainty Drive Market Sentiment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine<\/strong> helped <strong>push European shares to record highs earlier in the week<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defense stocks<\/strong> gained as statements from <strong>Trump\u2019s administration<\/strong> raised speculation that <strong>Europe may have to boost military spending<\/strong>, given potential shifts in U.S. security commitments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increased <strong>defense spending expectations<\/strong> contributed to <strong>higher European bond yields<\/strong>, as governments may issue <strong>more debt<\/strong> to fund military budgets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Concerns over Trump\u2019s proposed tariffs on European imports<\/strong> also weighed on investor sentiment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Mixed Business Activity Data Across Europe<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Germany<\/strong>, Europe\u2019s largest economy, saw a <strong>pick-up in business activity<\/strong> in February.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>France, however, reported contraction<\/strong>, dampening the broader <strong>Eurozone business growth<\/strong>, which expanded but at a <strong>slower-than-expected pace<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Corporate Earnings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Standard Chartered Posts Strong 2024 Results<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Underlying <strong>profit before tax<\/strong> reached <strong>$6.8 billion<\/strong>, fueled by <strong>wealth management and corporate banking growth<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Announced a <strong>$1.5 billion share buyback<\/strong> and a <strong>final dividend of 28 cents per share<\/strong>, bringing <strong>total shareholder payouts to $4.9 billion<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shares jumped <strong>over 4% in London trading<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sika Reports Solid Growth Despite Industrial Weakness<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Net sales rose 4.7% to CHF 11.76 billion<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Construction sector sales climbed 6.4%<\/strong>, offsetting a <strong>4.6% decline in industrial manufacturing<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Core income increased by 11% to CHF 2.27 billion<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Air Liquide Upgrades Mid-Term Outlook<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>French multinational <strong>raised its mid-term margin target<\/strong> and extended its <strong>financial projections to 2026<\/strong>, forecasting a <strong>4.6 percentage point improvement over five years<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Oil Prices Hold Steady, Set for Weekly Gain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Crude hovered <strong>slightly below the flatline<\/strong> but was on track for a <strong>weekly increase<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Investors monitored <strong>supply chain disruptions in Russia<\/strong> and <strong>a decline in U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As <strong>geopolitical risks persist<\/strong> and <strong>business activity data remains uneven<\/strong>, markets continue to navigate <strong>a complex mix of economic signals and trade policy concerns<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>European markets edged up on Friday, as investors assessed fresh business activity data and ongoing geopolitical risks, including trade tensions and defense spending concerns. As of 04:21 ET (09:21 GMT): STOXX 600 rose 0.3% to 552.56, though it was set for a weekly loss, snapping an eight-week winning streak\u2014the longest since March 2024. France\u2019s CAC &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":70012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,36],"tags":[7211,6877,6928,6882],"class_list":["post-112196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-forex-markets","category-market-updates","tag-currencies","tag-dollar","tag-euro","tag-forex"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112197,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112196\/revisions\/112197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}