(RTTNews) - French stocks advanced on Wednesday as hopes for more economic stimulus from global policymakers and signs of a gradual recovery in the Chinese economy helped investors shrug off worries about rising coronavirus infections in many countries.
Meanwhile, after four months of contraction, the euro area private sector expanded at the fastest pace since mid-2018 as easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions boosted demand and expectations, final data from IHS Markit showed today.
The IHS Markit final composite output index rose to 54.9 in July from 48.5 in June. The flash reading was 54.8. Both the manufacturing and service sectors reported marked rates of growth in July, with manufacturing registering the slightly stronger pace of expansion.
The services Purchasing Managers' Index advanced to 54.7 in July from 48.3 in June, but this was below the flash score of 55.1.
Separately, Eurozone retail sales grew at a moderate pace in June after rebounding sharply in May, data from Eurostat showed. Retail sales increased 5.7 percent on a monthly basis, following a 20.3 percent increase in May. Economists had forecast a 5.9 percent increase for June.
The benchmark CAC 40 rose 40 points, or 0.83 percent, to 4,930 after rising 0.3 percent in the previous session.
In stock-specific action, Eurofins Scientific shares rallied 2 percent. Eurofins U.S. Clinical Diagnostics, affiliated to Eurofins Scientific, announced today the launch of lower cost highly accurate COVID-19 PCR test.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
