Europe open: Shares open higher as investors mull UK retail sales

3rd Sep 2024 07:35

(Sharecast News) - European shares defied opening calls and were higher at the open as investors analysed UK retail sales survey data and prepared for a raft of US data later in the week.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.09% in early deals at 525.45 after strong gains during August. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.09% and Germany's Dax outperformed with a 0.19% gain.

After a day off for Labor Day, traders are bracing for a US data this week, including the purchasing managers' index, factory orders, jobless claims, nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment figures.

"There are some tough seasonal trends ahead, as September has historically been a poor month for the S&P 500. Couple that with political and geopolitical uncertainty, and investors are likely in for a choppy month. US non-farm payroll figures on Friday are the highlight of the week, which could have a meaningful impact on the size of the first Fed cut later this month," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman.

In the UK, retail sales were higher than last year in August despite already strong comparatives in 2023, though growth was relatively subdued amid a "challenging" environment that's likely to last until the end of the year, according to a closely watched retail barometer released on Tuesday.

The British Retail Consortium-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for August showed a 1% year-on-year increase in UK retail sales, against an increase of 4.1% in August 2023.

This was above the three-month average growth rate of 0.4%, but slightly below the 12-month average of +1.2%.

In equity news, shares in Rolls-Royce jumped more than 3% in early trading, after a sharp fall on Monday in response to news that Cathay Pacific flight CX383, powered by Rolls's XWB-97 engines, had a problem and had to be grounded.

The airline then cancelled 24 return flights as it started to inspect its fleet of Airbus A350s, powered by Rolls-Royce engines.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com