On Tuesday, European stocks recorded their largest quarterly rise in more than five years, supported by investor optimism about artificial intelligence and signs of easing tension in the Middle East.
The European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.9% higher, after touching a record level during the session. It also achieved gains for the third month in a row, and jumped 10% during this quarter, in its strongest performance since October 2020.
Most of the major sectors in the index advanced, led by technology stocks, which rose 2.5%.
The shares of the Dutch company “ASML”, a manufacturer of chip equipment, rose 6.8%, while the shares of “STMicroelectronics” and “Infineon” rose by 1.4% and 4.4%, respectively.
Siemens Energy shares also increased 5.6%, after the manufacturer of equipment related to artificial intelligence confirmed the strength of demand trends during its quarterly results announcement conference, Monday.
Rob Lancastle, portfolio manager at JO Hambro Capital Management, said that what distinguishes Europe is that investors do not usually pay a high cost for this growth, considering that this opens opportunities in value stocks.
“In the rest of the world, you often pay much more and face much greater risks to profits,” he added.
Global stock markets witnessed a clear rise during this quarter, supported by optimism related to artificial intelligence, with the United States and Asia leading the scene, while Europe was relatively late due to the low weight of the technology sector in its markets.
Indicators of easing tension in the Middle East also contributed to supporting European markets, after oil prices fell to levels before the Iran war, which prompted Barclays and JP Morgan to adopt a more optimistic outlook towards European stocks. (Reuters)
