European stocks on Friday were subdued, but marked their longest weekly winning streak since November 2019 as hopes of a rapid recovery in economic growth offset doubts over the eurozone’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.08 percent at 437.23 and posted a weekly increase of 1.16 percent after hitting an all-time high at the open, while the UK’s blue-chip FTSE 100 slipped 0.38 percent to 6,915.75, but rose 2.65 percent from a week earlier.
Global sentiment was underpinned by the US Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep its super-easy policy in place, even as data showed the world’s largest economy kicking into higher gear.
London equities have outperformed this week, with the domestically focused FTSE mid-cap index notching a record high as the UK gradually emerges from a strict winter COVID-19 lockdown.
“While the UK and US have done relatively well on the vaccination roll-out, continental Europe has lagged, but they will sort it out later this year,” BCA Research Inc chief strategist Dhaval Joshi said. “You’ll see an early rebound in UK and US economies from Q2 onwards. In continental Europe, it will be later this year rather than Q2.”
European stocks hit a series of all-time highs this week, despite setbacks on the vaccination front after European regulators found a potential link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and reports of rare brain blood clots.
“The year has been without a major correction so far, and with equity inflows continuing to hit new multi-year highs the sense of ‘irrational exuberance’ is building once again,” IG Group PLC chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
“Some measure of caution would seem to be the prudent approach until a more comprehensive conclusion can be drawn,” Beauchamp said.
Investors are to shift their focus to the US earnings season next week, with profits at S&P 500 companies expected to jump 25 percent in the first quarter, Refinitiv IBES has estimated.
Airbus SE rose 0.3 percent after the French planemaker reported slightly higher deliveries in the first quarter.
Holiday company TUI Group fell 2.1 percent after it said that it was raising 350 million euros (US$416.5 million) through an issuance of convertible bonds to bolster its finances and repay debt.
British American Tobacco PLC dropped 2.5 percent, among the biggest drags on STOXX 600, after JPMorgan Chase & Co downgraded the stock to “neutral.”
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