European Markets Rallied After Glencore Eased Concerns

(RTTNews) - The European markets finished solidly to the upside Wednesday, following the weak performance at the start of the trading week. Mining stocks bounced back today after Glencore, which has endured a few turbulent sessions of late, reassured investors that it has taken proactive steps to position the company to withstand current commodity market conditions.

Healthcare and pharma stocks also rebounded from recent weakness Wednesday. Stronger than expected U.S. private sector employment growth also provided support to the markets.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased by 2.34 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 2.40 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 2.22 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 2.57 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. gained 2.58 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 2.28 percent.

In Frankfurt, BASF rose 2.49 percent. The company has lifted the force majeure declaration for Polyamide 6.6 compounds.

Merck KGaA increased 2.26 percent, after it pre-announced the launch of a new innovative product across almost the entire Latin American region in 2016.

Lufthansa leaped 6.24 percent after a broker upgrade.

E.ON climbed 4.93 percent and RWE added 4.21 percent.

In Paris, Peugeot advanced 6.41 percent and Renault rose 2.04 percent. Car parts maker Valeo also finished higher by 5.69 percent.

LVMH increased 4.57 percent and Kering added 4.10 percent. L'Oreal also gained 4.20 percent.

In London, J Sainsbury surged 13.82 percent, after stating that it expects underlying profit before tax for the year to be above its own estimates. WM Morrison Supermarkets climbed 6.41 percent and Tesco added 6.95 percent.

Glencore jumped 14.08 percent, after it reassured investors that it has taken proactive steps to position the company to withstand current commodity market conditions.

Rio Tinto advanced 2.81 percent, after it reached a binding agreement for the sale of its 40 percent interest in the Bengalla coal Joint Venture in Australia to New Hope Corporation Limited for $606 million.

Anglo American rose 1.44 percent and BHP Billiton increased 2.66 percent. Antofagasta also added 1.63 percent.

Darty soared by 19.14 percent after France-based Groupe Fnac SA, a retailer of cultural, leisure and technological products, confirmed that it has proposed to acquire the company. Meanwhile, Groupe Fnac fell 3.60 percent in Paris.

Fiat Chrysler climbed 4.78 percent in Milan, even as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the automaker did not fully report death and injury claims for an unspecified time period in its early-warning report data that the company is to submit to regulators under federal law.

The euro area unemployment rate remained unchanged at an elevated level in August as businesses generated fewer jobs amid weak economic growth. The jobless rate held steady at double-digit 11 percent in August, data from Eurostat showed Wednesday. The figure was expected to remain at July's originally estimated rate of 10.9 percent.

Eurozone experienced deflation in September for the first time in six months as energy prices decreased further adding pressure on the European Central Bank to initiate more quantitative easing. Consumer prices fell unexpectedly by 0.1 percent year-on-year in September, offsetting a 0.1 percent rise in August, flash data from Eurostat showed Wednesday. Economists had forecast prices to remain flat.

German unemployment increased unexpectedly in September, reports said citing data from the Federal Labor Agency on Wednesday. The number of unemployed increased by 2,000 from August, confounding expectations for a decline of 5,000.

At the same time, the jobless rate stood steady at 6.4 percent in September as expected by economists.

Germany's retail sales decreased unexpectedly in August after rising in the previous month, data from Destatis showed Wednesday. Retail sales, in real terms, fell a seasonally and calendar-adjusted 0.4 percent month-over-month in August, confounding economists' expectations for a 0.2 percent increase. In July, sales had risen 1.6 percent.

Germany's unemployment rate dropped marginally in August, figures from Destatis showed Wednesday. The jobless rate dropped to an adjusted 4.5 percent in August from 4.6 percent in the previous month. In the corresponding month last year, the rate was 5.0 percent.

French producer prices continued its downward trend in August largely due to a sharp decrease in refined petroleum product prices, the statistical office INSEE reported Wednesday. Producer prices declined 2.1 percent in August from last year after falling 1.6 percent in July.

France's consumer spending remained unchanged in August, after rising in the previous months, as smaller changes for most of the goods offset each other, statistical office INSEE said Wednesday. Consumer spending in volume remained steady after a 0.3 percent rise in July and 0.4 percent in June.

The U.K. economy grew as initially estimated in the second quarter, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent from the first quarter, unrevised from the second estimate published on August 28. It was faster than the 0.4 percent expansion seen in the first quarter.

U.K. house prices grew at the fastest pace in four months in September, the Nationwide Building Society said Wednesday. House prices increased 3.8 percent year-on-year in September, the fastest since May, when it grew 4.6 percent. The annual growth matched expectations and faster than August's 3.2 percent increase.

Consumer confidence in the United Kingdom was down in September, the latest survey from GfK showed on Wednesday with an index score of +3. That was shy of expectations for +5 and down from +7 in August.

Reflecting strong job growth at large businesses, payroll processor ADP released a report on Wednesday showing stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of September. The report said private sector employment jumped by 200,000 jobs in September following a downwardly revised increase of 186,000 jobs in August.

Economists had expected an increase of about 190,000 jobs, which would have matched the job growth originally reported for the previous month.

With production growth collapsing and new orders falling sharply, MNI Indicators released a report on Wednesday showing an unexpected contraction in Chicago-area business activity in the month of September.

MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer tumbled to 48.7 in September from 54.4 in August, with a reading below 50 indicating a contraction. Economists had been expecting the business barometer to show a much more modest decrease to a reading of 53.6, which would have still indicated growth.