LONDON — Europe’s stock markets were largely up in trading Thursday morning.
The FTSE MIB in Milan and the DAX in Frankfurt both gained 0.2 percent, to 21,111,36 and to 9,631.27 respectively, while the FTSE 100 in London edged up 0.1 percent to 6,036.89. The CAC 40 in Paris was flat at 4,433,32.
The rises came as Asia’s markets put on a varied performance. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9 percent to 3,142.69, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1 percent to 21,095.98.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 2.8 percent to 17,571.83, as the Nikkei flash Japan manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for September, released Thursday, stood at 50.9 in September, down from 51.7 in August. According to Amy Brownbill, an economist at Markit, which compiles the survey, “a sharp reduction in international demand,” particularly from China, drove the slowdown in new order growth.
It was a more uneven picture for fashion, luxury and retail stocks.
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Some stocks in the sector saw strong gains. Among them were Jimmy Choo, 2.4 percent to 1.40 pounds; Asos, 2.5 percent to 25.87 pounds, and Next, 1.6 percent to 76.15 pounds. Next rose after Nomura upgraded its rating on the British retailer from “neutral” to “buy,” making Next one of the top five performers on the FTSE 100 Thursday morning.
Fallers numbered Richemont, 1.4 percent to 73.05 Swiss francs; Koovs, 2.9 percent to 0.68 pounds, and Moncler, 2.7 percent to 15.77 euros. Hennes & Mauritz lost 1.2 percent to 306.80 Swedish kronor, as the Swedish retailer reported a 0.2 percent rise in its Q3 net profits Thursday, to 5.3 billion Swedish kronor, or $628.23 million.
At 11:35 a.m. CET, the pound traded for $1.53, while the euro went for $1.11 and the Swedish krona for $0.12.