By Barbara Kollmeyer
European stocks perked up further on Friday, benefiting from gains in luxury goods makers and travel-related companies and gains in U.S. stocks after better-than-expected jobs data.
The Stoxx Europe 600 /zigman2/quotes/210599654/delayed XX:SXXP -1.84% rose 0.3% to 484.55, poised for its fifth-straight fresh record close, after banging out new highs all week. The index closed at 483.21 on Thursday. For the week, the Stoxx 600 is up 1.9%, which will be the fifth-straight weekly win in a row.
Of the major regional indexes, the German DAX /zigman2/quotes/210597999/delayed DX:DAX -1.94% gained 0.3%, the French CAC 40 /zigman2/quotes/210597958/delayed FR:PX1 -1.75% jumped 0.9% and the U.K. FTSE 100 /zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed UK:UKX -1.20% increased 0.4%. The euro /zigman2/quotes/210561242/realtime/sampled EURUSD +0.3094% and pound /zigman2/quotes/210561263/realtime/sampled GBPUSD -0.3456% were both lower against a stronger U.S. dollar /zigman2/quotes/210598269/delayed DXY -0.10% . The pound also continued to lose ground after surprise inaction by the Bank of England on Thursday.
Read: Pound falls near September lows as Bank of England surprise continues to reverberate
Fresh data showed German industrial production fell in September for the second straight month as supply-chain bottlenecks weighed on factory output.
Among stocks on the move, drugmakers were lower, with shares of AstraZeneca PLC /zigman2/quotes/200304487/composite AZN -1.78% /zigman2/quotes/203048482/delayed UK:AZN -1.02% fell 1.9% and Roche /zigman2/quotes/206324342/delayed CH:ROG -1.22% fell 1.3%. Novo Nordisk /zigman2/quotes/203484366/composite NVO -0.10% /zigman2/quotes/203484366/composite NVO -0.10% shares fell 3%.
Read: Pfizer shares soar after data finds COVID antiviral re d uced risk of death or hospitalization by 89% in high-risk adults
France’s CAC 40 was lifted by a 3% gain for shares of luxury goods maker Kering /zigman2/quotes/204653408/delayed FR:KER -1.92% and 2.5% gain for rival LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton /zigman2/quotes/201350549/delayed FR:MC -0.95% . The rest of the sector was also up, with Hermès International /zigman2/quotes/200522137/delayed FR:RMS -0.47% shares up 2%, Christian Dior /zigman2/quotes/201058228/delayed FR:CDI -1.44% stock up 2%.
Piral Dadhania, analyst at RBC Capital, said luxury goods companies have benefited this week from +10% -15% price hikes on two of privately-owned Chanel’s iconic women’s handbags. The sector has also held up well in the third quarter and through October, despite tougher comparisons, China COVID disruption and a moderating economic environment, to name a few, the analyst said.
“The broader luxury sector should benefit from Chanel’s most recent price increases, as it creates some headroom in the coming months/quarters, even if we do not expect most brands to take as aggressive an approach,” said the analyst, who noted that Louis Vuitton hiked prices 6% in October for 1/3 of its handbag SKU mix, a brand that has benefited, according to a management’s third-quarter earnings call.
The banking sector was higher, led by HSBC /zigman2/quotes/208272822/composite HSBC -1.28% /zigman2/quotes/203901799/delayed UK:HSBA -0.96% , which was up over 1%.
Also climbing was the travel sector, after well-received results from International Consolidated Airlines /zigman2/quotes/208070069/delayed UK:IAG -2.93% , with those shares up 2.5%. The company reported positive operating cash flow for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Gains spread across the sector, with cruise group Carnival /zigman2/quotes/200877079/composite CUK -4.21% /zigman2/quotes/210414141/delayed UK:CCL -5.18% up 7%, travel group TUI /zigman2/quotes/207049334/delayed UK:TUI -3.61% rose over 5%, while airlines Deutsche Lufthansa /zigman2/quotes/201210530/delayed XE:LHA -2.59% gained 5% and Ryanair 3.5%.
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