European Shares Rise Sharply as Investors Focus on US Jobs Report

By Investors Hub

European stocks have moved sharply on Thursday, mirroring firm cues from Wall Street and Asia, as trade war worries abated somewhat and investors turned their focus to the U.S. jobs report due Friday.

While the German DAX Index has surged up by 2.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 2 percent and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.7 percent.

Safe-have assets such as gold and the yen declined after recently appointed White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said President Donald Trump’s strident approach could be a tactic to get China to negotiate on trade practice.

British advertising group WPP has climbed after settling a lawsuit brought by an employee that alleged racist and sexist behavior by a top executive at one of its premier agencies.

Sophos has also soared after the cybersecurity firm said billings for the year would come in at the top end of its guidance.

Similarly, Electrocomponents has jumped after saying its full-year adjusted pre-tax profit would be slightly ahead of previous expectations.

Dutch supermarkets and eCommerce company Ahold Delhaize N.V. has also risen after announcing the appointment of Frans Muller as its Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1.

French video games maker Ubisoft has moved sharply higher, buoyed by record global sales of its “Far Cry 5” game.

In economic news, German factory orders recovered in February, but the pace of expansion was much weaker than expected, figures from Destatis revealed.

A separate report from Eurostat showed Eurozone retail sales increased at a slower-than-expected pace in February after falling in the two previous months.

The U.K. service sector expanded at the weakest pace since July of 2016 in March due to bad weather, survey data from IHS Markit showed.