By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- After a volatile trading session,
European stock markets ended broadly higher on Monday as investors
digested both better-than-expected Chinese export data and an
unexpected drop in German industrial production.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2% to close at 317.15, after
last week's 2.7% loss. The index was swinging between small gains
and losses earlier in the day, but moved higher when the U.S.
markets opened in positive territory.
"I don't think there is much to read into today's trading aside
from the fact we have not seen a large amount of volumes, which
echoes the seasonal theme that we are heading into the quieter
periods of the market, the seasonal trading period," said Joshua
Raymond, chief market strategist at Cityindex.co.uk.
The European benchmark index has slid 2.5% in December so far,
raising questions about whether the market can manage a so-called
Santa Rally for the remainder of the month.
"Many are seeing the early month weakness as a buying
opportunity and so given the historical tendencies for December
trading, I think it's too early to call the end of the Santa Rally
at this stage," Raymond added.
Among the biggest movers on Monday, shares of GDF Suez SA gained
2% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch lifted the French utility
firm to buy from neutral.
Shares of Tullow Oil PLC fell 3.3% after the oil-exploration
company said it has plugged a well in the South Omo block onshore
Ethiopia and abandoned it as a dry hole.
China and German data
More broadly, investors looked to Asia, where Chinese trade data
spurred optimism about the global economic recovery. Exports rose
12.7% in November, well ahead of both October's 5.6% and analyst
expectations. Meanwhile, imports grew a more modest 5.3%.
In Europe, data showed industrial production in Germany dropped
1.2% in October, below expectations of an increase of 0.8%. The
figures signaled a weak start to the fourth quarter for the
country's important industrial sector, but the economics ministry
was comforted by rising business sentiment indicators, predicting
that German manufacturing should again expand in coming months.
Additionally, Germany's trade surplus narrowed and was lower
than expected in October, as imports sharply rose and outpaced a
modest increase in exports.
"There is confidence that this is a mere blip and production
over the quarter should bounce back. It's not been a great morning
of economic data given the German trade surplus narrowed more than
expected and the import data from China was weaker than expected,
which has curtailed investment in resource stocks today," Raymond
from Cityindex.co.uk said.
Germany's DAX 30 index rose 0.3% to 9,195.17. Sky Deutschland AG
jumped 5.2% outside the main index in Frankfurt after the
TV-operator purchased the broadcast rights in Germany for Europe's
UEFA Champions League until the end of the 2017-2018 season.
France's CAC 40 index rose 0.1% to 4,134.10 and the U.K.'s FTSE
100 index inched 0.1% higher to 6,559.48.
Mining firms added pressure in London after the Chinese import
data. Shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) lost 0.4% and Vedanta Resources
PLC dropped 2.7%.
Outside the main indexes, shares of Inmarsat PLC rallied 5.8%
after the satellite-telecom firm said it had successfully launched
its first Global Express satellite.
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