European stocks edge higher; Richemont gains on strong China sales
Investing.com — European stock markets traded marginally higher Thursday, steadying after the previous session’s sharp losses, but any gains are likely to be limited on increased doubts of early interest rate cuts.
At 03:10 ET (08:10 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded largely unchanged, the CAC 40 in France traded up 0.2% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose 0.1%.
Strong retail sales data in the U.S., coupled with hawkish comments by a series of Federal Reserve speakers, has hit expectations that the U.S. central bank will start cutting interest rates in the first quarter of this new year.
Back in Europe, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde was the latest to pour cold water on bets for rate cuts until policymakers can be sure inflation is in retreat.
This view was given credence Wednesday after the U.K. annual inflation rate rose to 4.0% in December, increasing for the first time in 10 months.
Data is limited in Europe on Thursday, and thus most attention will be on the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, with a wide range of business and political leaders due to speak.
In the corporate sector, Richemont (SIX:CFR) stock traded 6.6% higher despite the world’s second-largest luxury group reported lower third-quarter sales in Europe on Thursday, becoming the latest company in the sector to acknowledge a slowdown in demand.
Richemont said its overall sales growth decelerated to 8% in the three months to Dec. 31, down from the 12% increase in the previous six months.
That said, sales increased by 25% in China, including Hong Kong and Macau, the company said, countering concerns about a slowdown in the region as its economy cools.
The luxury sector has been buffeted in recent months by persistent inflation,
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