By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

EDF shares climb; euro slips below $1.25 but rises for the week

European stocks finished Friday's session in rally mode, posting their biggest weekly win in more than a year alongside on ongoing recovery in equities on Wall Street.

How markets moved

The Stoxx Europe 600 index leapt 1.1% to close at 380.62, its third straight gain. All sectors rose, led by telecom and health care shares. On Thursday, the index rose 0.5% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-charge-higher-as-airbus-commodity-shares-advance-2018-02-15).

Spain's IBEX 35 charged up 1.2% to 9,832.10, and Germany's DAX 30 index tacked on 0.9% to end at 12,451.96.

France's CAC 40 put on 1.1% to close at 5,281.58, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.8% for a finish at 7,294.70 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-rises-on-track-to-break-weekly-losing-streak-2018-02-16).

The euro bought $1.2434, down from $1.2507 late Thursday in New York. But for the week, the euro was up roughly 1.5% against the greenback .

In the fixed-income market, the yield on the 10-year German bund fell 5 basis points to 0.705%, according to Tradeweb. Yields fall when prices rise.

Read:This market selloff was overdue, but now it looks overdone, strategists say (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-market-selloff-was-overdue-but-now-it-looks-overdone-strategists-say-2018-02-10)

Also check out: More investors looking to cut U.K. assets as Brexit uncertainty persists (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-investors-looking-to-cut-uk-assets-as-brexit-uncertainty-persists-2018-02-16)

What drove markets

The Stoxx 600 posted a weekly gain of 3.3%, the best week since December 2016 and the first advance after three weeks of losses, according to FactSet data.

The European market keyed off moves on Wall Street. U.S. stocks were rising for a sixth straight session (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-ready-to-hold-above-25000-as-us-stocks-line-up-best-week-more-than-a-year-2018-02-16), as investors headed into a three-day weekend thanks to the Presidents Day holiday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/which-markets-are-closed-on-presidents-day-2018-02-14) on Monday.

The recent global selloff in equities is seen as prompted partly by a rise in U.S. bond yields amid signs of an uptick in inflation. But after the release this week of stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cpi-surges-05-in-january-but-yearly-rate-of-inflation-unchanged-2018-02-14), investors snapped up battered stocks.

What strategists said

"Europe has jumped higher out of the blocks on the last trading day of the week," said Fiona Cincotta, market analyst at City Index, in a note. "This indicates that the market has quickly adjusted to the prospect of higher future inflation and a more hawkish Fed. Let's not forget, the backdrop hasn't changed, earnings remain strong and company outlook's encouraging," she said.

"What has been interesting is that U.S. markets have once again performed better than European markets since the lows of last week; despite a well-known love for European equities among fund managers, the U.S. continues to steal the crown, thanks in no small part to the stronger euro," wrote Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.

Stock movers

Royal Vopak NV (VPK.AE) rallied 13.7% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/royal-vopak-posts-net-loss-adjusted-earnings-rise-2018-02-16) after the Dutch company, which stores chemicals, oil and other resource-related products, posted an increase in fourth-quarter adjusted net profit, but it swung to a net loss.

Vivendi SA (VIV.FR) slid 6% even as the French music and media company said late Thursday fourth-quarter net profit increased more than 10-fold, to 828 million euros ($1.03 billion) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/vivendi-net-profit-jumps-tenfold-in-4th-quarter-2018-02-16).

"While the lack of guide [from Vivendi] may disappoint some investors, we believe the stock has already been heavily penalized in recent weeks partly owing to concerns over the 2018 guidance," said Goldman Sachs in a research note Friday.

Electricite de France SA, or EDF, (EDF.FR) climbed 4.6% after the French utility posted a rise in yearly net rise in yearly net profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/edf-2017-profit-rises-but-uk-earnings-slide-33-2018-02-16) while a decline in sales wasn't as much as analysts had anticipated.

Saab AB (SAAB-B.SK) fell 1%, but pared an intraday loss of 12%. The shares were knocked back after the Swedish defense company reported weaker-than-expected earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/saab-shares-slump-after-earnings-miss-2018-02-16-34855727) for the fourth quarter, on lower orders in its Dynamics unit, which sells ground combat weapons, among other items.

Segro PLC shares (SGRO.LN) jumped 6% after the British property-investment company raised its dividend by 6.1% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/segro-2017-profit-more-than-doubles-2018-02-16-24853926), and said pretax profit for 2017 more than doubled to GBP976.3 million.

Air France-KLM (AF.FR) fell 6.4%, with the airline swinging to a loss in the fourth quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/air-france-klm-swings-to-loss-on-pension-cost-2018-02-16).

Economic data

U.K. retail sales increased just 0.1% on the month (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-retail-sales-growth-slows-more-than-expected-2018-02-16) in January, the Office for National Statistics said, missing expectations of 0.6% in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts. Sales rose 1.6% year-over-year, lower than the 2.4% rate in the year-ago period.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 16, 2018 13:29 ET (18:29 GMT)

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