Carmakers and retail stocks on Friday led a rebound in European shares from a two-day rout. Photograph: iStockCarmakers and retail stocks on Friday led a rebound in European shares from a two-day rout that saw investors grapple with shifting expectations on US interest rate hikes, a political crisis in Italy and recession risks. But sluggish economic growth in China due to widespread Covid-19 lockdowns continued to weigh on sentiment.
China’s lockdowns took a toll on London’s luxury brand Burberry whose first-quarter comparable store sales rose just by 1 per cent. The weakness in China pushed its shares 3.8 per cent lower. Aston Martin’s shares surged 23.7 per cent after the luxury carmaker brought Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund as its second-largest shareholder and said it was looking to raise £653 million.The continent-wide Stoxx 600 index ended 1.8 per cent higher after falling 2.6 per cent in the last two sessions on worries that the US Federal Reserve may hike interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 100 basis points later this month.
Shares of other automakers Mercedes-Benz, Porsche Automobil, Renault climbed between 4.3 per cent and 6.9 per cent.
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