The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, September 25, 2023. REUTERS/Staff Acquire Licensing Rights
Sept 27 (Reuters) – European shares rose on Wednesday after four straight sessions of losses, while insurance stocks capped the gains as Netherlands’ largest insurer NN Group fell after an unfavourable court ruling.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) added 0.4% by 0810 GMT, supported by industrials and tech stocks, while Germany’s DAX (.GDAXI) rose 0.3%.
German consumer sentiment is set to fall in October, as persistently high inflation encourages people to save and blots out the chances of a recovery before the end of the year, a GfK institute survey found.
Capping the gains on the STOXX 600, insurance stocks (.SXIP) fell 0.5%.
Shares of Netherlands’ largest insurer NN Group (NN.AS) shed 12.5% after the company warned of a possible “material adverse effect” following an unfavourable court ruling in a long drawn case.
“Investors are taking a look at what’s happened and wondering exactly what it might mean,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
“Obviously it paid out a chunk of compensation, but with consumer groups now saying that the compensation was too low, that does ring warning bells.”
Dutch peer ASR Nederland NV (ASRNL.AS) fell 7.2%.
The Amsterdam Exchange Index (.AEX), however, climbed 0.6% as Adyen NV (ADYEN.AS) rose 5.9% after Barclays raised the Dutch payment solutions provider’s rating.
Meanwhile, the risk premium of Italian government debt over the German sovereign hit its highest since May on Wednesday ahead of Italy’s announcement of its budget plan.
Stocks in Italy (.FTMIB) climbed 0.4%, supported by banks.
H&M (HMb.ST) reversed early losses to rise 6.7% as the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer reported a slightly bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit boosted by cost cuts.
“Most investors are taking a look at what they’ve announced today and thinking it’s not quite as bad as maybe we thought it was going to be,” Hewson said.
“Chances are people will buy the autumn winter stuff from H&M, they are just going to do it a bit later.”
Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Dhanya Ann Thoppil
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