European markets close slightly higher; weak Chinese data resurfaces growth fears
European markets closed marginally higher Monday, extending the positive trend seen at the close of trading last week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the session fractionally above the flatline after a choppy day’s trade. Food and beverages rose 0.9% to lead gains, while mining stocks fell 1.6%.
Telecom Italia rose 6% to hit the top of the benchmark following news that Italy’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, which is leading polls, may take the phone company private.
Sweden’s Storskogen Group closed at the bottom of the index, down almost 10%, ahead of the release of its second-quarter earnings Tuesday.
Global stocks struggled to get off the ground Monday after weak data out of China and Japan prompted fears of a broader economic slowdown.
European stocks closed higher last Friday as investors digested economic data from the region including a preliminary U.K. second-quarter GDP reading, July inflation prints out of France, Spain and Italy, and euro zone industrial production for June.
Data released from the U.K. showed the economy contracted in the second quarter of 2022 as the country’s cost-of-living crisis hit home. Official figures showed that gross domestic product shrank by 0.1% quarter on quarter in the second three months of the year, less than the 0.3% contraction expected by analysts.
Also on investors’ minds was cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data out last week. The consumer price index rose 8.5% in July from a year ago, below expectations, due largely to slumping energy prices.
The retail trading frenzy around Bed Bath & Beyond continued on Wall Street Monday, with the stock gaining 12% in early trade.
The stock, which has been shorted by many large funds, is up 200% so far this month.
Nearly 50 million shares of the stock were traded by Monday morning, according to FactSet. From April to June of this year, the company had zero trading days with that much volume.
