(RTTNews.com) – German shares held steady on Friday, a day after the Bank of England surpassed expectations with a quadruple-whammy of measures to stop Britain slipping into a recession this year.
Investor focus remains on a key U.S. jobs report due later in the day that could provide important cues on U.S. interest rate hikes.
Stocks pared early gains after data from Destatis showed German factory orders declined unexpectedly in June on weak foreign demand. Factory orders fell 0.4 percent in June from May, in contrast to a revised 0.1 percent rise a month ago. Economists had forecast a 0.5 percent rise for June.
The benchmark index rose 0.6 percent the previous day in reaction to the BoE’s move to cut interest rates for the first time since 2009 and to start buying corporate bonds from September.
Chemicals group Evonik rallied 3 percent on saying it is aiming for the upper half of its previous targeted earnings for 2016.
Fashion retailer Hugo Boss soared almost 6 percent after its second-quarter sales beat estimates.
Airline Air Berlin jumped 3.5 percent on showing improvement in its capacity utilization rate for the vacation month of July.
Bayer rose about half a percent on a Bloomberg report that it is examining Monsanto Co.’s financial accounts and considering raising its $ 55 billion takeover bid for the company.
Insurance giant Allianz tumbled 4 percent as its second-quarter profit almost halved, hurt by claims from natural catastrophes in the property and casualty segment.
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