Latest news with #EuroZone
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
European shares edge higher amid earnings flurry, US tariff blitz
(Reuters) -European shares edged higher on Thursday, helped by a slate of upbeat corporate updates, with investors keeping an eye on last minute trade deals after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a blitz of tariff announcements. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.3% by 0715 GMT. It is on track to end the month 1.6% higher as easing trade worries, better-than-expected U.S. and European economic data and largely upbeat earnings reports bolstered sentiment. Ahead of the August 1 deadline, Trump released fresh levies ranging from updates on copper tariffs, goods from Brazil, South Korea and India as well as an end to exemptions for small-value overseas shipments. Euro zone banks continued their upward momentum, adding 1%, boosted by Societe Generale raising its annual profit target on Thursday. The French bank was among top gainers on the index, advancing 7%. Standard Chartered reported a higher-than-expected rise in first-half pretax profit, while Spanish bank BBVA reported a fall in second-quarter net profit. Energy giant Shell gained 2.9% after the company beat profit expectations for the quarter and kept buybacks steady. Rival BP rose marginally. Anheuser-Busch InBev shed 10.2% after the beer giant reported a fall in volumes, dragged back by weak sales in China and Brazil. Blowout results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms overnight are set to power Wall Street on Thursday, ahead of reports from Apple and Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
18 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
European shares edge higher amid earnings flurry, US tariff blitz
July 31 (Reuters) - European shares edged higher on Thursday, helped by a slate of upbeat corporate updates, with investors keeping an eye on last minute trade deals after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a blitz of tariff announcements. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab was up 0.3% by 0715 GMT. It is on track to end the month 1.6% higher as easing trade worries, better-than-expected U.S. and European economic data and largely upbeat earnings reports bolstered sentiment. Ahead of the August 1 deadline, Trump released fresh levies ranging from updates on copper tariffs, goods from Brazil, South Korea and India as well as an end to exemptions for small-value overseas shipments. Euro zone banks (.SX7E), opens new tab continued their upward momentum, adding 1%, boosted by Societe Generale ( opens new tab raising its annual profit target on Thursday. The French bank was among top gainers on the index, advancing 7%. Standard Chartered (STAN.L), opens new tab reported a higher-than-expected rise in first-half pretax profit, while Spanish bank BBVA ( opens new tab reported a fall in second-quarter net profit. Energy giant Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab gained 2.9% after the company beat profit expectations for the quarter and kept buybacks steady. Rival BP (BP.L), opens new tab rose marginally. Anheuser-Busch InBev ( opens new tab shed 10.2% after the beer giant reported a fall in volumes, dragged back by weak sales in China and Brazil. Blowout results from Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab overnight are set to power Wall Street on Thursday, ahead of reports from Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and (AMZN.O), opens new tab.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
ECB's Wage Tracker Signals Cooling Pay Pressures Into Next Year
Wage growth in the euro zone is set to slow sharply into the beginning of next year, adding to evidence that the European Central Bank has brought inflation back under control. The ECB's wage tracker, published Wednesday, predicts salaries will rise by an annual 1.7% in the first quarter of 2026. That's well below a peak of 5.2% recorded at the end of 2024.
Reuters
24-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Euro zone business activity growth hits 11-month high in July, PMI shows
LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - Euro zone business activity accelerated faster than forecast this month, supported by a solid improvement in the bloc's dominant services industry and with manufacturing showing further signs of recovery, a survey showed on Thursday. HCOB's preliminary composite euro zone Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global and seen as a good guide to growth, rose to an 11-month high of 51.0 points from 50.6 in June. That was above the 50.0 mark separating growth from contraction and above expectations for 50.8 in a Reuters poll. "The euro zone economy appears to be gradually regaining momentum. The recession in the manufacturing sector is coming to an end, and growth in the services sector accelerated slightly in July," said Cyrus de la Rubia, Chief Economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank. For the first time in over a year, overall demand did not decline, though there was no expansion. The composite new business index came in bang on 50, its highest level since May 2024. The services PMI rose to 51.2 from 50.5, exceeding the Reuters poll forecast for a more modest lift to 50.7. Inflationary pressures eased with the services input and output prices indexes falling. The input prices index fell to a nine-month low of 56.7 from 58.1. Inflation was at 2.0% in June, official data showed earlier this month, right where the European Central Bank wants it. The ECB will hold policy steady later on Thursday, according to all 84 economists surveyed in a Reuters poll, while a small majority expect one more interest rate cut - most likely in September. A manufacturing PMI, which has been sub-50 for three years, climbed to 49.8 from June's 49.5, just ahead of the poll estimate for 49.7, while an index measuring output dipped slightly to 50.7 from 50.8. Although some of that activity was driven by completing past orders, factories did so at the slowest rate in around three years. The backlogs of work index rose to 49.0 from 47.1.
Irish Times
23-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Irish food prices second most expensive in Europe
Food prices in Ireland were 12 per cent above the EU average in 2024, making them the second most expensive in the euro zone. Ireland was the second most expensive country in both the euro zone and EU27 for alcoholic drinks, with prices of alcohol in Ireland just under double the EU27 average, according to fresh data from the Central Statistics Office . It was the most expensive country in Europe for non-alcoholic beverages last year, with prices 40 per cent higher than the EU27 average. Tobacco prices meanwhile were the most expensive of the 36 countries surveyed, at 159 per cent higher than the EU average. READ MORE The data shows Ireland was the third priciest in the euro zone for bread and cereals, and the sixth most expensive country for fruits, vegetables, and potatoes. Source: CSO It was the eighth most expensive country for both milk, cheese and eggs, and fish, the ninth most expensive for meat, and the twelfth most expensive for oils and fats. Of the 36 countries, the highest price levels for fish were observed in Switzerland (66 per cent above the EU27 average) and lowest in North Macedonia (24 per cent below the EU27 average). Fish price levels in Ireland were 5 per cent above the EU27 average. Of the euro zone countries, the highest fish price levels were observed in Austria and the lowest in Lithuania. Of the 36 countries, the level of fish prices in Ireland ranked 13th. While the price of bread and cereals in Ireland was 17 per cent above the EU27 average, the highest price levels were in Switzerland at 63 per cent above the average and the lowest price levels were observed in Romania where prices were 44 per cent below the mean. Of the euro zone countries, Luxembourg had the highest price levels for bread and cereals, 29 per cent above the EU27 average, and the lowest prices were in Slovakia, where they were 17 per cent below the average. Denmark was the most expensive while Romania was the least expensive in the EU27 for bread and cereals.
