European shares advance as chipmakers rally; Ubisoft shines

Frankfurt, Aug. 22 (BNA): European shares rose on Tuesday, driven by technology stocks as chipmakers tracked an overnight Wall Street rally ahead of Nvidia’s earnings, while Ubisoft jumped after Activision sold its non-European streaming rights to the French company.

 

The pan-European STOXX 600 added 0.9%, tracking a 1% gain in the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

 

The technology sector gained 2% as chip stocks rallied on optimism surrounding the world’s most valuable chipmaker Nvidia ahead of its quarterly results on Wednesday.

 

Shares of Amsterdam-listed chipmakers ASML Holding N.V., ASM International N.V , and BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. gained between 2.6% and 3.2%.

 

Paris-listed shares of Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics added 2.5%.

 

Ubisoft Entertainment advanced 6.7% to the top of STOXX 600 as it will buy the non-European streaming rights of “Call of Duty” maker Activision, potential owner Microsoft said.

 

Copenhagen stocks jumped 1.2% as shares of Novo Nordisk, Europe’s second most valuable listed company, gained 1.6%.

 

European miners added 1.2%, tracking higher metal prices.

 

Investors now keenly await the Jackson Hole Symposium later this week, where European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Federal Reverse Chair Jerome Powell are expected to provide clues about the interest rate outlook.

 

“In terms of expectations, I think Jerome Powell is going to reiterate the need for a strong policy setting,” said Patrick Farrell, chief investment officer at Charles Stanley.

 

“He’s not going to want to give the markets too much optimism at this particular point.”

 

Traders have nearly priced in that the Fed will hold rates at its next meeting, while leaning towards another 25-basis point hike by the ECB next month.

 

Rising bond yields across Europe have battered stocks this month, with the STOXX 600 headed for its worst month so far this year.

 

For the day, bond yields across Europe eased.

 

Among individual stocks, Prysmian gained 4.6% after the Italian cable maker was selected as the ‘preferred bidder’ for three projects in Germany worth EUR 4.5 billion.

 

Swedish property company SBB fell 2.1% after rating agency Fitch downgraded the company’s long-term issuer default rating to “B-” from “BB+”

Bakkafrost dropped 5.8% as the Norwegian fish farmer warned of environmental challenges in its operations in Scotland, which will affect the yearly harvest.

 

Y.R