Mining stocks skyrocketed and received a boost on Thursday as copper futures rebounded as broader European stock markets struggled for direction.
Rio Tinto RIO,
shares were up 4%, while other miners, including KGHM Polska Miedz KGH,
BHP Group BHP,
and Antofagasta ANTO,
obtained, with copper futures HG00,
by almost 4%. The copper contract on the London Metal Exchange reached its highest level since April 2012.
The wider Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP,
wiggled between gains and losses, losing 0.1% in mid-morning trading after two days of declines. Stocks are starting to struggle as interest rates on the US 10-year Treasury soar in the hope that the global economy will recover.
“The momentum started to fade as US equities were slowed by the tech sector and the 10-year government bond yield TMUBMUSD10Y,
and the dollar DXY,
is driven by positive retail sales in the US, ”said Rony Nehme, chief market analyst at Squared Financial.
US Equity Futures ES00,
were weaker on their way to Thursday’s session, which will feature retailer Walmart’s WMT,
revenue, a busy string of economic releases and a congressional hearing on video games retailer GameStop GME,
Traders in Europe processed a busy income stream.
Airbus AIR,
stocks fell 4% as the European aircraft manufacturer predicted it would deliver the same number of aircraft and break-even free cash flow. It targets adjusted pre-interest and tax earnings of € 2 billion, after earning € 1.7 billion from the same measure in 2020 and € 6.95 billion in 2019.
Smith & Nephew SN,
the medical device manufacturer, was down 5% as the company said profit margins for 2021 will be worse than in 2019, due to reduced production volumes, increased investment in research and development, acquisitions and exchange rate movements.
Varta VAR1,
the automotive batteries business, was down 10% amid reporting a 145% increase in adjusted operating profit on a 140% increase in revenues for 2020 and the decision to declare a special dividend of € 2.50 per share. However, the Varta stock has increased by 67% in the past 12 months.
Temenos TEMN,
Shares were up 14% as the Swiss business software maker predicted revenue growth of between 10% and 15% through 2025, ahead of capital market day.