European shares rebounded today, anticipating of stimulus measures from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Chinese central bank to help their economies fight off any slowdown.
Mining stocks were the best performers, rising on speculation that weak manufacturing data might prompt Beijing to prop up economic growth in the world’s biggest metals consumer.
European stocks were also buoyed after ECB governing council member Jens Weidmann said the ECB was not ruling out buying loans and other assets from banks to support the euro zone, which is slowly recovering from a sovereign debt crisis.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which rose 16 per cent in 2013 to post its best annual gain since 2009, closed up 1.3 per cent to 1,310.83 points, bouncing back from a 1-percent decline in the previous session.
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index rose 1.4 per cent to 3,096.64 points while the STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index - which includes top mining stocks - outperformed with a 2.6 per cent climb.
The FTSEurofirst 300 also had its biggest one-day gain since a 2 percent rise on March 4th. "The mining sector is the obvious place to benefit from any stimulus package in China, " said Scott Meech, co-head of European equities at Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), whose portfolio includes shares in miner Rio Tinto. "We look to be at the bottom end of trading ranges, but I think the market will want to push up from here," he said.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose to a five-year high of 1,353.47 points in late January, but has since slipped back. Concerns about a downturn in emerging markets, coupled with tensions generated by Russia’s seizure of Crimea this month and the impact of an eventual rise in US interest rates, have contrived to knock back stocks from those peaks.
Credit Suisse's global equity strategy team decided to halve its "overweight" position on equities due to these factors. However, Credit Suisse kept an end-2014 target of 3,600 points for the Euro STOXX 50, up about 16 percent from today's levels, arguing that a recovery in company earnings would help European stock markets continue to rise.
Barclays’ equity strategists also said stocks remained a better asset class bet than bonds, where returns would be hit further by any central bank measures. “Fundamentals still support our preference for stocks over bonds,” said Rob Bate, at Barclays’ European equity product management group.
“Equity valuations are not worryingly overstretched in our view and the current, favourable, environment of low inflation, modest growth and very supportive monetary policy is likely to persist over the next several months,” he said.
