European stocks rallied on Wednesday, pushed up by a sharp rise in the shares of Just Eat Takeaway after Amazon agreed to take a stake in the company’s Grubhub arm, and by stronger than expected German industrial data. Photograph: Hannelore Foerster/BloombergEuropean stocks rallied on Wednesday, pushed up by a sharp rise in the shares of Just Eat Takeaway after Amazon agreed to take a stake in the company’s Grubhub arm, and by stronger than expected German industrial data.
The market moves on Wednesday came as Just Eat Takeaway and Amazon announced a commercial agreement in the US, whereby Amazon agreed to take a 2 per cent stake in Just Eat’s Grubhub business, granting Amazon Prime members access to the food delivery platform. Shares in Just Eat, which has a market capitalisation of €3bn, rose 15 per cent.
US government debt markets were steadier on Wednesday, but yields on two-year and 10-year Treasury bonds remained close after inverting for the third time this year on Tuesday — a reflection of intensifying concerns about slowing growth. So-called inversions, when yields on 10-year Treasury notes slump below those of their shorter-dated counterparts, have preceded every US recession in the past half-decade.
Aggressive monetary policy tightening has hammered the valuations of tech companies this year, with the prospect of higher interest rates biting into their projected cash flows and earnings.