European stocks and US futures rose early on Thursday as investors anticipated encouraging job data and held on to hopes of a vaccine.
Pan-European Stoxx 600 SXXP,
It increased 1.3%, following strong gains in Asian markets overnight. The German DAX DAX,
The French CAC PX1 rose 2.1%,
was 1.8% higher, and the FTSE 100 UKX,
It increased 0.8% after two consecutive days of losses for the UK Index.
The sentiment changed on Wednesday when Pfizer PFE,
and BioNTech BNTX,
announced positive test results for a possible coronavirus vaccine, spurring investors around the world. Better-than-expected economic data from China, Australia and the eurozone also helped lift spirits.
The positive momentum continued through Thursday, with attention focused on the latest US jobs report to be released later in the day. Economists expect the US economy to gain more than 3 million jobs in June, according to FactSet estimates, based on the surprise addition of 2.5 million jobs in May. “While today’s numbers will be eagerly anticipated, they still cannot hide the effect the pandemic has had on the United States economy and the job market generally,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson. He added that the estimates varied widely, from just under a million to 8 million jobs.
Coronavirus cases continued to rise in countries around the world, with the United States posting a record daily increase of 50,000 on Wednesday.
Rony Nehme, chief market analyst at SquaredFinancial, said “For now the markets are focusing on the good news and not overly concerned.” [by] the increase in COVID-19 cases. “
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Associated British Foods A,
Shares were up 6.4% when the conglomerate said Primark stores had reopened and that recent sales trends were “reassuring and encouraging.” Third quarter sales fell 39% to £ 2.6 billion ($ 3.3 billion) but strong performance in its grocery and ingredients business offset a 75% drop in retail.
DS Smith SMDS,
It fell 6.9%, despite strong demand for e-commerce blocking that helped the packaging provider increase annual profits by 5%. However, sales to industrial customers have decreased and the company canceled its final dividend payment.
.
