LONDON – European stock markets were on the upswing in mid-morning trading on Wednesday, with the FTSE MIB in Milan leading the way.
The Italian market was up 0.6 percent to 19,307.73, followed by the FTSE 100 in London, 0.5 percent to 7,305.14. The CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX in Frankfurt were both up 0.4 percent, to 4,916.16 and 11,818.38, respectively.
The euro traded at $1.06, while the pound fetched $1.25 and the Swiss franc equaled $0.99 at 11:00 a.m. CET.
Retail and luxury stocks were mostly down, including Safilo Group, which fell 1.8 percent to 6.50 euros; Asos.com, 1.4 percent to 52.02 pounds; Italia Independent Group, 1.5 percent to 4.38 euros; Jimmy Choo, 2.1 percent to 1.53 pounds; and Yoox Net-a-porter Group, 0.6 percent to 23.70 euros.
Among the few stocks that made gains were Joules Group, up 1.4 percent to 2.19 pounds; Gemfields, 3.3 percent to 0.51 pounds; and Koovs.com, 1.2 percent to 0.44 pounds.