Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic were broadly stronger with a rally in European markets rallied as the prospect of peace emerging in Ukraine buoyed investors, and earnings from the likes of Nestle and Siemens supported that optimism.
Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 2.1% and France’s CAC 40 gained 1.5% as the new White House administration laid out the pathway for negotiations to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
German industrial giant Siemens, often seen as a barometer of the broader industrial sector, advanced after beating earnings expectations and highlighting recovering demand from electronics and semiconductor customers.
Meanwhile, Swiss food giant Nestle’s slowest annual organic sales growth in more than 25 years wasn’t as bad as analysts predicted, and the maker of KitKat chocolate bars said it’s seeing early signs of revival in consumer demand.
Consumer goods giant Unilever is also eyeing up Europe as the primary home of its Ben & Jerry’s ice cream unit, which it plans to spin out and list in Amsterdam as its primary bourse, with secondary listings in London and New York.
Across the pond, Wall Street with stronger with the S&P 500 up 0.4% in afternoon trading and the Nasdaq advancing 0.7% as investors await US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff plans.
The US president is meeting his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi where they’re expected to discuss energy cooperation and trade. Trump is expected to unveil reciprocal tariffs for all trading partners ahead of that meeting.
“CNBC reported that the new tariffs would not take effect immediately, which the market is taking some comfort from, as it allows plenty of time for negotiation for countries to take measures to avoid the tariffs,” Bank of New Zealand senior markets strategist Jason Wong said in a note.
The kiwi dollar was little changed at 56.61 US cents at 7am in Auckland from 56.50 cents yesterday.
Gold prices were also stronger ahead of the tariff announcement, with gold futures up 0.6% at US$2,947 an ounce.
Local data today include Statistics New Zealand’s partial inflation reading for January, and the BNZ-Business New Zealand performance of manufacturing index.
Corporate earnings season continues with dual-listed financial services provider AMP among those reporting today.
And the latest merger and acquisition rumours emanating from across the Tasman have named media group NZME as a potential target, with The Australian’s DataRoom column suggesting it could be a candidate for a takeover by wealthy locals keen for a change in the editorial direction of its flagship New Zealand Herald newspaper and website.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Tina Hartung on Unsplash.
