By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets edged higher Monday, as stronger-than-expected German industrial production data offset the dashing of hopes of an easing of China’s strict COVID policy.
At 04:25 ET (09:25 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.9% higher, CAC 40 in France rose 0.3%, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. traded largely flat.
Helping the tone Monday was the news that German industrial output grew by more than expected in September, expanding by 0.6% during the month, up from a downwardly revised contraction of 1.2% in August and ahead of economists' forecasts for growth of 0.2%.
This came as something of a surprise as supply chain bottlenecks stemming from the war in Ukraine continue to hamper the country's wider industrial sector.
That said, gains are limited following China’s health officials reiterating the country’s commitment to maintaining strict COVID-linked movement curbs, a policy which has contributed towards slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy and a major export market for corporate Europe.
In the corporate sector, Ryanair (IR:RYA) stock rose 1.2% after the budget airline lifted its expectations for full-year passenger traffic, forecasting 168 million passengers during its 2023 fiscal year, up from a previous guidance of 166.5 million. This is also 13% higher than its pre-COVID levels.
Joules (LON:JOUL) stock slumped 23% after the troubled U.K. fashion company said it is in talks with its founder and lenders over a rescue package after more weak trading through the end of October.
Swedish Match (ST:SWMA) stock rose 0.6% after tobacco giant Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) confirmed it was going ahead with its $16 billion plan to buy its smaller rival.
Oil prices fell Monday on the confirmation that China’s zero-COVID policy was here to stay, dashing hopes of a rebound in oil demand from the world's top crude importer.
This news outweighed the jump in China's crude oil imports to the highest level since May, although the volume for the first 10 months was still 2.7% below the same period a year earlier.
By 04:25 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.3% lower at $92.34 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.2% to $98.35.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,682.55/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 0.9990.