By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Stoxx 600 wraps up an event-filled week with a win
European stocks closed higher Friday, managing to hang on to
their strongest levels in more than a year as investors turned to a
Group of 20 gathering after a hefty week of political and financial
events.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 0.2% at 378.32, sloughing
off modest intraday losses to log its best finish since Dec. 2,
2015, according to FactSet data. All but the financial sector ended
higher.
The pan-European benchmark rose 1.4% for the week, a second
weekly rise in three weeks. The week contained a laundry list of
so-called event risks, ranging from the general election in the
Netherlands and the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, at which the
bank signaled it will continue on a gradual path of raising
rates.
G-20 gathering: As the trading week wound down, the G-20 meeting
of finance ministers and central bankers from the world's largest
economies was kicking off in Baden-Baden, a spa town bordering
Germany's Black Forest.
"The big overhang here is [U.S. President] Donald Trump's
intentions over global trade. There has been no shortage of talk
about border taxes and even the threat in isolation has been
sufficient to repatriate some jobs to the US, but the detail is
still unknown and this has the potential to create a tense
atmosphere," said Tony Cross, market analyst at TopTradr, in a
note.
"It is perhaps the clues this meeting may hold over future U.S.
trade deals that will provide the most meaningful direction," he
said.
In Washington Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was
meeting with Trump for the first time at the White House. NPR
reported she traveled with top executives from German corporate
heavyweights BMW, Siemens and industrial parts manufacturer
Schaeffler.
Watch the Trump/Merkel news conference: live blog and video
(http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2017/03/17/trump-and-merkel-news-conference-live-blog-and-video/)
Read:Opinion: Worlds will collide when the cautious Merkel meets
the impetuous Trump
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/worlds-will-collide-when-the-cautious-merkel-meets-the-impetuous-trump-2017-03-13)
Dutch vote: Part of this week's rise in European equities came
after Dutch voters rebuffed Geert Wilders's far-right party in a
general election, according to a preliminary result. Wilders's
party was a concern for some investors as it advocates leaving the
European Union and halting Muslim immigration. The party was still
projected to pick up seats.
"The mere fact that an anti-EU party didn't come to power in the
Netherlands justifies the positive reaction in markets," said
Jasper Lawler, senior market analyst at London Capital Markets, in
a note.
"If the Dutch result tells us anything, it's that political
discontent means more votes outside the political mainstream on
both the left and the right," he said. "In our view, the Dutch
election result was not an endorsement of the EU; it was just a
rejection of the far right. If that's true, then political union
will still be an uphill struggle, keeping breakup risk alive.
In Amsterdam, the AEX ended Friday's session up 0.3% and ended
the week higher by 1%.
Read: Opinion: Europe's elites shouldn't get wrong idea from
Dutch election
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/europes-elites-shouldnt-get-wrong-idea-from-dutch-election-2017-03-16)
Movers: Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) shares sank 14.8% as the oil and
gas exploration company proposed a rights issue to raise $750
million
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tullow-oil-proposes-750-million-rights-issue-2017-03-17).
Airbus Group SE (AIR.FR) fell 0.5% after France's
financial-crimes investigator started a preliminary investigation
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/france-opens-probe-into-possible-airbus-corruption-2017-03-17)
into alleged wrongdoing at the European plane maker over potential
corruption.
Berkeley Group Holdings PLC shares (BKG.LN) rose 6.1% after the
home-builder said its pretax profit for fiscal 2017 will be at the
top end of analysts' expectations
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/berkeley-new-home-starts-fall-30-in-london-2017-03-17).
The company also said it's started to build fewer homes in London,
citing Brexit uncertainty as reason for a fall in reservations.
Indexes: Germany's DAX 30 index finished up 0.1% at 12,095.24,
and France's CAC 40 added 0.3% to end at 5,029.24.
The FTSE 100 ended up 0.1% at 7,424.96, a second straight
record-high close
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-clings-onto-record-high-ahead-of-g-20-meeting-2017-03-17).
The euro on Friday was buying $1.0737, up from $1.0768 late
Thursday in New York. The shared currency declined after an Ipsos
poll showed French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen
with 1 percentage point lead over centrist hopeful Emmanuel Macron,
at 27% to 26%, in first-round voting set for April 23. Macron
picked up a percentage point in the latest poll.
But the poll, published in Le Monde, also showed Macron winning
over Le Pen in second-round voting, by 61% to 39%.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 17, 2017 14:08 ET (18:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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