Europe: Stoxx 600 clocks best week in over a month as rally broadens

Published Sat, Jul 4, 2026 · 08:15 AM

[BENGALURU] Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 hit an intraday record high on Friday (Jul 3) and logged its biggest weekly jump in over a month, underpinned by gains in cyclical stocks and investors pushing back on expectations for an imminent US interest rate hike.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 hit another high of 652.35 and closed 0.7 per cent higher on Friday, registering its sharpest weekly jump since mid-May. Germany’s DAX index also notched an all-time high and closed up 0.8 per cent.

German industrial group Siemens jumped 2.6 per cent and was the biggest boost to the DAX after brokerage Kepler Cheuvreux upgraded the stock to “hold” from “reduce”.

Chip firm Aixtron rose 6 per cent, while peers Soitec and BE Semiconductor added 5 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively.

“The tech-lite European indices are back in demand, even more so given that the stocks within them trade on much lower (valuation) than those seen over in the US,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

“So, not only are Europe’s indices less exposed to the artificial intelligence trade, but they are also relatively cheap.”

Reuters reported the German draft budget for 2027 foresees borrowing of more than 203 billion euros (US$232 billion), up from total borrowing of 196.5 billion euros in the key targets approved by the government in April.

Meanwhile, defence stocks were 0.7 per cent higher as Russia bombarded Ukraine with its deadliest strike this year. Investors anticipate more defence spending and output in times of geopolitical tensions.

Defence stocks have seen the strongest gains this week, along with cyclicals such as industrials, banks and financial services as the rally, previously concentrated in tech stocks, broadened, aided by easing Middle East tensions.

A lukewarm US jobs report on Thursday boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve may wait until later in the year before raising rates, while global business activity reports broadly suggested a resilient economy.

Earlier this week, eurozone data indicated that inflation rose at a slower-than-expected pace in June and European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde said that risks to inflation and economic growth were now more balanced than a few weeks earlier.

“Compared with June, policymakers sounded noticeably less hawkish… The message was not that the inflation battle has been won, but rather that central banks are becoming increasingly comfortable with the direction of travel,” said Modupe Adegbembo, an economist at Jefferies.

Traders now see the ECB hiking rates by a total of 23 basis points this year, LSEG data showed.

French voucher and benefits company Pluxee gained 7.8 per cent after posting a smaller-than-expected drop in organic sales in the third quarter.

Trading volumes are expected to be thin on account of a US public holiday. REUTERS