Mining stocks jumped on Thursday, peaking as copper futures rose as broader European stock markets struggled to orient themselves.
Rio Tinto RIO,
shares rose 4%, while other miners, including KGHM Polska Miedz KGH,
BHP Group BHP,
and Antofagasta ANTO,
won, with HG00 copper futures,
increasing about 4%. The copper contract on the London Metal Exchange reached its highest level since April 2012.
The widest Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP,
it staggered between gains and losses, losing 0.1% in mid-morning trading after two days of falls. Stocks are starting to struggle, and the U.S. Treasury’s 10-year benchmark yield is rising in hopes that the global economy will shrink.
“The momentum has begun to fade as US stocks were held back by the technology sector and the Treasury yielded at ten years TMUBMUSD10Y,
and the DXY dollar,
it is being driven by positive retail sales figures in the US, ”said Rony Nehme, chief market analyst at Squared Financial.
US stock futures ES00,
were weaker towards Thursday’s session, which will feature Walmart retailer WMT,
earnings, a long amount of economic releases and a conference hearing on video game retailer GameStop GME
Traders in Europe digested a busy list of profits.
Airbus AIR,
shares fell 4%, as the European aircraft manufacturer planned to deliver the same number of aircraft and an unbalanced cash flow. It is aimed at adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of 2,000 million euros, after having earned 1.7 billion euros with the same measure in 2020 and 6,952 million euros in 2019.
Smith & Nephew SN,
the medical equipment manufacturer fell 5%, as the company said its profit margins for 2021 will be worse than in 2019, due to reduced production volumes, increased investment in research and development, acquisitions and currency movements.
Varta VAR1,
the automotive battery company, fell 10% when reporting a 145% increase in adjusted operating profit with a 140% rise in revenue by 2020 and the decision to pay a special dividend of € 2.50 per action. However, Varta shares have risen 67% in the last twelve months.
We have TEMN,
shares jumped 14%, as the Swiss business software maker forecast revenue growth of between 10% and 15% by 2025, ahead of capital markets day.