FTSE higher on earnings and absence of trade news

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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Although the increasingly hostile trade relations between China and the US still form the backdrop for some of the equity trading this morning, for the moment the absence of news on this front is granting the market a brief chance to recover. 

European stock markets are moving gingerly higher this morning with the FTSE and the CAC both trading up 0.2% and the DAX up 0.4%. Strong earnings including from the likes of car maker Peugeot are helping the indices move higher.

Peugeot sales up 38%

Maybe it is too early to draw a conclusion about the health of European car demand but if Peugeot’s sales are anything to go by the European car industry has done exceptionally well in the last six months. The French car maker’s sales in Europe increased by more than 60% during that period - helped by the acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall vehicles last year. 

With Opel cars being mostly sold in Germany and Vauxhall in the UK the numbers are a good indicators not only of strong car demand in Germany, France and the UK but are also generally a good gauge of consumers’ capacity to spend.

Oil prices turn

Oil prices have also performed a U-turn this morning after a tariff war-induced plunge Wednesday exacerbated by Libya’s plans to restart oil exports. 

Libya is in the process of reopening four of its export terminals which will end a standoff that had shut down most of the country’s oil output. Brent crude is trading up 1.3% following a nearly 7% decline the day before while the move in the WTI has been less pronounced, up 0.3% following a 5% decline.

Sky top of the FTSE gainers leader board after Comcast bid

The world’s largest entertainment group Comcast has gone head-to-head with Rupert Murdoch’s Fox in a battle to acquire TV group Sky. 

Less than a day after Fox raised its Sky bid to £14 a share Comcast submitted a $34 billion bid for the group offering £14.75 per share. Sky shares were trading up nearly 2% this morning at 15.24.

Related tags: Sterling UK 100 Oil

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