FX.co ★ European stocks rise despite tough ECB measures

On Friday's trading, key European stock indices were rising amid investors' expectations of the corporate reports of the largest EU companies for the second quarter.

At the time of writing, the STOXX Europe 600 index of Europe's leading companies rose by 0.3% to 425.83 points.

Meanwhile, the British FTSE 100 went up 0.25% to 7,288.8 points, the French CAC 40 gained 0.36% to 6,223.2 points and the German DAX jumped by 0.3% to 13,285.99 points.

Top gainers and losers

The shares of Germany's food delivery service operator Delivery Hero SE soared by 15%. According to preliminary financial outcome, the company's revenue grew by 38% in April-June.

Stock prices of Danish bank Danske Bank AS sank by 3.7% amid weak reports. The bank's net profit fell by 37% in the second quarter fiscal year 2022. In addition, the company's management announced that it would not pay Q2 dividends for 2021.

The market capitalization of Swedish steel company SSAB AB dropped by 2%, despite the fact that its quarterly revenue grew by 1.5 times and the net profit increased by 2.5 times.

At the time of writing, the shares of Spanish lender Santander rose by 1.5% on news that the company refused to participate in the buying process of Mexican retail bank Citigroup.

Shares of Norwegian aluminum maker Norsk Hydro advanced by 3.8% amid the positive quarterly earnings report issued by the company's management the day before.

The market capitalization of Scandinavian timber company Stora Enso fell by 8.6% after the release of quarterly earnings that were weaker than expected.

Swiss elevator and escalator maker Schindler's shares went down 3.5% after the company cut its revenue forecast for 2022. It reported that the major reason for it was lower demand in China due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Current market sentiment

On Friday, European stock market players continued to evaluate the outcome of the ECB meeting in July. consequently, the regulator raised its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points for the first time since 2011.

According to the central bank's press release, the reason for raising its key rate was EU inflation data in June.

Notably, the EU Statistical Office estimated that in June consumer prices in the euro zone countries had risen by 8.6% in annual terms. Moreover, this figure was the highest since the start of data calculation. Currently, the inflation rate in the EU countries exceeds the central bank's target level of 2% more than four times.

In addition, earlier the ECB announced that it would launch a new anti-fragmentation tool, i.e. Transmission Protection Instrument. This is a bond-buying option designed to curb fluctuations in the debt market as borrowing costs fall.

Previous trading results

On Thursday, European stock indexes traded mixed as investors discussed the European Central Bank's decision on interest rates.

Consequently, the STOXX Europe 600 index of Europe's leading companies rose by 0.44% to 424.39 points.

The British FTSE 100 gained 0.09% to 7,270.51 points, the French CAC 40 advanced by 0.27% to 6,201.11 points, while the German DAX fell by 0.27% to 13,246.64 points.

The shares of German producer of software for the management of business processes SAP SE sank by 2.8% the day before. At the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2022, the company's operating profit decreased more than analysts had predicted. Moreover, the German producer lowered its profit forecast for 2022 due to the hostilities between Ukraine and Russia.

Earlier, shares of Finnish telecommunications equipment maker Nokia Corp. soared by 9.3%. Moreover, the company reported net profit above market forecasts in April-June 2022.

The market capitalization of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG fell by 0.5%. According to the company's strong corporate report, its quarterly net profit rose by 9%. However, this fact did not improve the situation.