European stocks are rising moderately on Thursday. The only exception is the British indicator. The index of the largest companies in the STOXX Europe 600 region rose by 0.45%. The German DAX indicator – by 0.23%, the French CAC 40 – by 0.34%, the Italian FTSE MIB – by 0.26%, and the Spanish IBEX 35 – by 1%. The British FTSE 100 has lost 0.35% by this time.
The military conflict in Eastern Europe has provoked European leaders to have an unrestrained desire to make their economies less dependent on oil and gas imports from Russia, while actively increasing their own military security potential. That is why some companies in Europe, namely the energy and defense sectors, have become the most attractive for many investors. Perhaps that is why the recent fall to the 12-month low of European stock markets has not turned into a long-term scenario. On the contrary, the exchanges of Western European states, as we can see, recovered very quickly. Thus, the broader STOXX market has recovered by 11% in one month and is currently within reach of a record high on January 4.
The shares of the German defense company Rheinmetall are in great demand, so they are currently valued twice as much as before the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The shares of the wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems also distinguished themselves by an unprecedented rise in value, which jumped in price by all 40%.
Germany and Sweden have already announced that they intend to dramatically increase defense funding to about 2% of their economic output. BofA estimates that new annual spending in this sector will amount to 200 billion euros (or $218.08 billion) if the eurobloc countries switch to allocating 2% of their gross domestic product to defense.
Shares of companies that are related to commodities, along with financial stocks, have also been in great demand since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine.
The stock prices of Atlantia S.p.A., an Italian holding company that operates in the field of road construction and airport management, rose by as much as 10%. This was facilitated by the news that the investment company Blackstone Group Inc. together with Benetton Group SpA, did not exclude the possibility of acquiring the company.
Shares of the Irish bank Bank of Ireland Group PLC rose in price by 0.5%. The Irish Ministry of Finance announced that it had reduced its stake in the bank from 13.9% to 5%, and also extended the plan to sell the bank's securities.
The manufacturer of electrical appliances Electrolux AB, whose securities have risen in price by 5.2%, can also boast of grandiose successes in the growth of the share price.
The healthcare sector is still trending. The growth leaders in this area can be called the owner of the pharmacy chain Zur Rose Group AG, whose securities increased in price by 5.1%.
The shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC airlines rose significantly (an increase of 4.5%) and the manufacturer of medical equipment Ambu AS (+4.4%).
But the securities of the British-Russian mining company Polymetall International PLC collapsed in price by 11.8%. The manufacturer of military equipment Rheinmetall AG, whose shares fell by 3.8% today, and the manufacturer of semiconductor components Nordic Semiconductor ASA, which distinguished themselves by reducing the cost by 3.2%, had poor results.