EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Set For Best Week Since 2016, Alongside Wall Street's Recovery

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

European stocks headed firmly higher Friday, with ongoing recovery on Wall Street contributing to gains that are guiding the continental market toward its best weekly win in more than a year.

How markets are moving

The Stoxx Europe 600 index leapt 1% to 380.16, on course for a third straight gain. All sectors rose, led by utility and telecom shares. On Thursday, the index rose 0.5% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-charge-higher-as-airbus-commodity-shares-advance-2018-02-15).

Spain's IBEX 35 charged up 1.2% to 9,831.20 and Germany's DAX 30 index tacked on 0.8% at 12,448.11.

France's CAC 40 index put on 0.9% at 5,267.00, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 bulked up by 0.7% to 7,282.30.

The euro bought $1.2537, up from $1.2507 late Thursday in New York.

In the fixed-income market, the yield on the 10-year German bund slipped 1 basis point to 0.749%, according to Tradeweb. Yields fall when prices rise.

Check out:Here's why the U.S. dollar isn't getting much love (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-the-us-dollar-is-nobodys-valentine-2018-02-14)

What's driving the market

The Stoxx 600 was headed toward a weekly gain of 3%, which would be the first weekly advance after three weeks of losses and the best weekly performance since December 2016, according to FactSet.

The market appeared to key off moves on Wall Street, as U.S. stocks on Thursday shrugged off intraday losses to finish higher for a fifth straight session (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-on-pace-for-5th-win-in-a-row-helped-by-ciscos-earnings-driven-jump-2018-02-15) leaving the Dow Jones Industrial Average back above 25,000.

The recent global selloff in equities is seen as prompted partly by a rise in U.S. bond yields amid signs of an uptick in inflation. But after the release this week of stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cpi-surges-05-in-january-but-yearly-rate-of-inflation-unchanged-2018-02-14), investors have been snapping up battered stocks.

Read:This market selloff was overdue, but now it looks overdone, strategists say (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-market-selloff-was-overdue-but-now-it-looks-overdone-strategists-say-2018-02-10)

What strategists are saying

"Europe has jumped higher out of the blocks on the last trading data of the week. The encouraging start comes following yet another impressive finish on Wall Street," said City Index market analyst Fiona Cincotta, in a note.

"This indicates that the market has quickly adjusted to the prospect of higher future inflation and a more hawkish Fed. Let's not forget, the backdrop hasn't changed, earnings remain strong and company outlook's encouraging," she said.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 16, 2018 05:03 ET (10:03 GMT)

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