European shares rebound despite worries over China’s property woes

European shares closed higher on Monday, rebounding from a near one-week low, as gains in retail and healthcare outpaced the fall in miners and energy, both bruised by concerns over China’s embattled property sector.

DUBLIN

The Irish index of shares rose on Monday, starting the week in positive territory as banking stocks rebounded and index heavyweights stabilised.

AIB saw its stock gain almost 2 per cent to end the day at €4.32, while Bank of Ireland rose 1 per cent to €9.54. Permanent TSB rose 3.3 per cent to close at €2.17.

Shares in Ryanair rose 0.3 per cent to €15.89. The airline was not impacted when engine-maker Pratt & Whitney issued a product recall last month that affected more than 1,000 engines in Airbus aircraft. Ryanair operates only Boeing aircraft.

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Insulation specialist Kingspan rose just over 0.8 per cent, while CRH was marginally higher at €52.84.

Flutter Entertainment slipped further into the red, shedding almost 1.8 per cent, while ferry operator Irish Continental Group lost more than 6 per cent off its stock price to close the session at €4.34.

LONDON

The UK’s exporter-heavy FTSE 100 edged lower on Monday, weighed down by shares in miners and oil firms, as worries mounted over China’s economic recovery and its debt-laden property market.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 and the more domestically focused FTSE 250 lost 0.2 per cent each, with both indexes closing at near four-week lows.

Concerns over China’s property market worsened after the onshore bonds of Country Garden, the country’s top property developer, were suspended.

[ China’s stalling economy puts the world on notice ]

The move deepened the Chinese property giant’s debt problems and dealt a fresh blow to policymakers trying to shore up confidence in a stuttering economy.

Industrial metal miners were the worst hit, with the subindex slipping 2.3 per cent on lower base metal prices amid heightened concerns over China’s property landscape.

Shares of Plus500 gained 1.0 per cent after the British online trading platform announced $120 million in shareholder returns.

Discount retailer B&M European Retail rose 3.0 per cent on a price target hike from Deutsche Bank.

EUROPE

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed the day 0.2 per cent higher, bouncing back from a more than 1 per cent decline on Friday.

The healthcare sector gained 0.3 per cent, with Philips jumping 4.4 per cent after Dutch investment firm Exor NV took a 15 per cent stake in the company. Exor dipped 0.3 per cent.

The retail sector index was the top gainer, up 0.8 per cent, with B&M European Retail gaining 3 per cent following a Deutsche Bank price target raise.

However, miners and energy stocks led losses, tracking lower crude oil and base metal prices on deteriorating demand outlook in top consumer China, reinforced by debt problems in its property sector.

The European basic resources index ended 1.5 per cent lower, touching a more than 10-month low intraday, while the energy sector closed 0.8 per cent down.

Other China-exposed sectors such as luxury lost 0.1 per cent, while lenders Prudential, HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered shed between 0.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent.

NEW YORK

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose on Monday as chipmaker Nvidia spearheaded gains among megacap growth stocks while investors also awaited earning reports from US retail giants and economic data later in the week.

Shares of Nvidia rose 5.4 per cent, pushing the information technology index up 1.4 per cent at the top of the S&P 500 sectoral gainers.

Other megacap growth stocks including Alphabet and Amazon.com also rose more than 1 per cent, while chipmaker Micron Technology gained 4.9 per cent.

Tesla bucked the trend, falling 2.2 per cent after the electric automaker said it had cut prices in China for some Model Y versions.

Market focus this week will be on quarterly earnings from big US retailers including Walmart and Target. Economic data expected includes retail sales for July that will shape expectations for the direction for US interest rates.

– Additional reporting: Reuters