- Infineon jumps 7% on Q2 sales beat
- Zalando surges on Q1 operating profit beat
- French cognac cos up on China's open attitude to trade dispute
- German exports rebound in March; industrial orders disappoint
May 7 (Reuters) - European shares hit a more-than-one-month high on Tuesday, as a slew of positive corporate earnings, including from Switzerland's UBS and Italy's UniCredit, added to the upbeat sentiment surrounding interest rate cuts.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.4%, as of 0805 GMT -- after closing at a one-week high on Monday -- fuelled by increased bets of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank this year.
"It is also that the ECB and the BoE will start cutting rates sooner, and irrespective of the Fed. ECB has already indicated that the first rate cut will likely be in June," wrote Mohit Kumar, Jefferies' chief economist in Europe.
"We are still looking for around 0.5% (economic) growth for Europe and the UK for 2024."
Some of that will hinge on the euro zone's retail sales data, due later in the day, especially after data showed German exports rebounded in March but disappointing industrial orders dashed hopes for a swift economic recovery.
Among headlining stocks, UBS jumped 8% after the lender's first quarterly profit since taking over Credit Suisse was three times analysts' expectations.
The financial services index climbed 2.2% to a three-week high, leading sectoral gains.
UniCredit, Italy's second-largest bank, gained 3.1% to a 13-year peak, steering the banks index 1% higher, as it raised its investor reward guidance after posting a much higher-than-expected profit and boosting capital levels.
The retail sub-index also rose 1.3% as Germany's Zalando gained 6.9% after delivering a better-than-expected first-quarter operating profit.
German chip manufacturer Infineon climbed 7.1% after better-than-expected second-quarter sales, with analysts expecting long-term growth despite a full-year guidance cut.
Further, spirits makers Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard jumped 6.1% and 2.6%, respectively, after Chinese President Xi Jinping's "open attitude" towards a trade dispute over French cognac.
On the flip side, German software developer TeamViewer dropped 8.6% after a first-quarter results miss.
Danish medical equipment maker Coloplast dropped 5.1% after a second-quarter earnings miss.
German health technology company Siemens Healthineers lost 4.6% following a second-quarter revenue growth miss, with its China revenue declining by 14%.
Germany's Fresenius Medical Care shed 6.5% after only maintaining its 2024 profit outlook despite a first-quarter operating earnings beat.
Elsewhere, Britain's FTSE 100 hit a record high, up 0.9%, boosted by a 1.5% gain in Shell after Reuters reported its plans to sell the Malaysian gas station business.
Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Savio D'Souza
Source: Reuters