European Stocks Set To End May With Sharp Gains
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 closed near the flatline on Friday (5/30) but rose more than 3.5% in May, marking their strongest monthly performance since January. The rally was led by the oil & gas, health care and utilities sectors.
Investors digested the latest inflation data from the euro zone’s largest economies, with CPI figures showing a decline in inflation in Germany, Italy and Spain, potentially giving the ECB more room to cut borrowing costs at its next meeting next week. At the same time, rising uncertainty over the ongoing U.S. trade dispute kept further gains at bay.
A federal appeals court temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump’s tariffs, just a day after a trade court ruled that he had exceeded his authority. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks with China were “a little bit stalled.” Among individual stocks, SAP (+1.2%), Siemens (+1.6%), and L'Oréal (+1.7%) were among the best performers, while Sanofi was the laggard, down 4.4%. (alg)
Source: Trading Economics