{"id":119469,"date":"2021-04-01T17:38:05","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T17:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=119469"},"modified":"2021-04-01T17:38:05","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T17:38:05","slug":"european-stocks-inch-towards-record-high-as-pmis-chip-rally-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/european-stocks-inch-towards-record-high-as-pmis-chip-rally-support\/","title":{"rendered":"European stocks inch towards record high as PMIs, chip rally support"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Reuters) -European stocks kicked off the new quarter with gains on Thursday, as optimism around a new U.S. government spending plan and strong factory activity data out of the euro zone eclipsed concerns about another lockdown in France.<\/p> The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.5%, hovering just 2 points below its all-time high. The benchmark ended the first quarter with a 7.7% rise – its fourth straight quarter of gains.<\/p>\n The German DAX climbed 0.6% to hit a record high, while the UK\u2019s FTSE 100 also gained 0.6%.<\/p>\n Despite slow vaccination programmes and a fresh pandemic wave hitting several countries, European markets have recovered almost all of their pandemic-driven losses on strong manufacturing activity and a bounceback in economy-linked stocks such as banks and energy.<\/p>\n Data showed euro zone factory activity growth galloped at its fastest pace in the near 24-year history of a leading business survey in March.<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain optimistic on the recovery and believe current vaccine delays in the EU are unlikely to jeopardise the rebound in growth: the supply of vaccines is set to improve significantly in 2Q\/3Q,\u201d analysts at Equita wrote in a note.<\/p>\n Helping global sentiment further, U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled a sweeping $2.3 trillion spending plan on Wednesday that includes investments in roads, railways, broadband, clean energy and semiconductor manufacture.<\/p>\n Chip stocks including those of ASML, ASMI, Infineon Technologies BE Semiconductor all rose between 1.2% and 4% after U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology issued an upbeat revenue forecast.<\/p>\n Also boosting the sector, contract chipmaker TSMC said it plans to invest $100 billion over the next three years to increase capacity at its plants.<\/p>\n British food delivery firm Deliveroo\u2019s shares inched down 0.8% after plunging by as much as 30% in their trading debut on Wednesday.<\/p>\n German peer Delivery Hero jumped 3.4% after Dutch tech investment company Prosus NV raised its stake in the company.<\/p>\n France\u2019s blue-chip CAC 40 lagged after the latest lockdown announcement.<\/p>\n Catering companies Sodexo and Elior slipped even as Sodexo forecast an expansion of second-half revenue after reporting a large beat on its first-half profit margin.<\/p>\n Swiss lender Credit Suisse rose 2.5%, but was on track for its worst week since March 2020, hit by worries about the fallout from Archegos Capital\u2019s dramatic meltdown.<\/p>\n