European shares rebound as Turkey stress eases and earnings provide support
Reuters
Published Aug 14, 2018 05:06AM ET
European shares rebound as Turkey stress eases and earnings provide support
By Helen Reid
LONDON (Reuters) - European shares bounced back on Tuesday after two days of heavy selling as investors' anxieties over contagion from a Turkish currency crisis faded slightly, thanks to reassurances from the central bank and government.
The Turkish lira
The pan-European STOXX 600 (STOXX) benchmark rose 0.3 percent, initially supported by bank stocks (SX7E) which then gave up their gains after Turkey's Erdogan threatened to boycott U.S. electronic products and said it is important to keep a "firm political stance".
Banks had been the worst hit by concerns over Turkey, taking the index to a 21-month low, but investors were becoming more optimistic that banks' Turkey exposure was manageable.
"There are only a couple of European banks with some exposure to Turkey, so the overall bank sell-off yesterday seemed a bit overdone," said Jauke de Jong, equities analyst at AFS Group.
Unicredit (MI:CRDI), BBVA (MC:BBVA), BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP), and ING had been hardest hit due to their Turkey exposure. Euro zone banks (SX7E) were down 0.1 percent by 0854 GMT.
Investors' focus once again turned to results.
Antofagasta (L:ANTO) shares fell 5.8 percent, the worst performer, after the Chilean copper producer reported first-half earnings fell due to weaker ore quality and higher costs, and said trade tensions were likely to hurt demand.
German utility RWE (DE:RWEG) rose 2.2 percent after it said its Innogy deal was on track and reported in-line first half profits.
"Numbers were ahead of the street thanks to a solid performance by trading, which – following a negative 1Q EBITDA – posted €125 mn during the second quarter," said Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) analysts.
Swiss dental implant maker Straumann (S:STMN) was a top gainer after results, up 3.4 percent after it raised its full-year revenue target as organic sales growth exceeded 20 percent for the first time in 10 years.
"Whilst we believe the growth guidance upgrade was expected, 18 percent organic growth in the first half is already tracking well ahead of new guidance," said UBS analysts.
K&S (DE:SDFGn) shares fell 4 percent after the potash miner reduced the profit outlook for its Salt business.
Broker research also drove some sharp stock moves.
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Siltronic (DE:WAFGn) shares fell 3.7 percent after Citi downgraded the stock to "neutral", saying the stock is now trading close to fair value and there is limited scope to raise estimates.
Shares in German industrial equipment manufacturer Duerr (DE:DUEG) rose 4.1 percent with traders saying local broker M.M. Warburg upgraded the stock to "buy" from "hold".
A boost to "overweight" from Barclays (LON:BARC) sent Saipem (MI:SPMI) shares up 2.6 percent.
Overall companies in the MSCI Europe index have delivered year-on-year earnings growth of 11.9 percent in the second quarter, helping support the market.
"The resilient global activity combined with weaker euro and sterling should support earnings further into year-end, despite the challenging EM backdrop and tariffs threat," said Barclays analysts.
Written By: Reuters
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