European shares rose on Friday, posting their first weekly gain in five weeks, as a wave of bargain-hunting dominated following concerns regarding monetary tightening and slowing global economic growth.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 2.1 percent, with the travel and leisure and banking sectors leading the way up.
Global markets, especially the US stock market, were characterized by highly volatile trading this week as investors fear that tight financial conditions and the US Central Bank’s readiness for a series of interest rate hikes to contain inflation will push the economy into recession.
On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated his expectation that the bank would raise interest rates by half a percentage point during the next two monetary policy meetings, alleviating concern of a larger increase of 75 basis points that some investors had expected.
After calculating Friday’s gains, the Stoxx 600 index ended four consecutive weekly losses.
Deutsche Telekom shares rose 2.1 following the company raised its annual revenue forecast.
Shares of French retailer Casino Group jumped 9.9 percent following Les Echos reported that French energy companies Total Energies and Engie aimed to acquire its renewable energy unit, valued at 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion).
Japanese stocks
In addition, the Japanese Nikkei index recorded the highest increase in more than a month and a half as investors turned to cheap stocks, and SoftBank Group’s shares topped the gains.
The Nikkei jumped 2.64 percent to close at 2,6427.65, the highest daily increase since March 23, recovering from a decline to a two-month low recorded in the previous session. The index lost 2.1 percent this week.
The broader Topix index rose 1.91 percent to 1,864.20 points. And recorded a decline of 2.7 percent during the week.
SoftBank Group’s share was the most supportive of the Nikkei index, as it jumped 12.22 percent, despite the group’s Vision Investment Fund unit recording a record loss.
Yutaka Miura, chief technical analyst at Mizuho Securities, said investors bought SoftBank shares due to expectations that the Nasdaq would rise later in the day.
Tokyo Electron rose 5.54 percent following the chip maker announced strong forecasts for the current fiscal year.
Nissan Motor shares fell 2.93 percent following the automaker warned of weak operating profit for the current fiscal year, far below analyst expectations.
(agencies)