EUROPE Stocks bounces on bargain buying

European stock markets were mostly higher on Friday, 18 November 2022, as investors chased for bottom fishing after two straight days of declines. Sentiments also underpinned after better-than-expected UK retail sales data and the U.K. announcement of a new fiscal strategy centered on tax hikes and spending cuts.

At 13:20 GMT, the pan European Stoxx 600 index added 1.1% to 433.14. Germany's DAX index added 1.1% to 14,418.22. France's CAC 40 index gained 1.1% to 6,649.63. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 0.8% to 7,406.11. Switzerland's Swiss Market index added 1% to 11,028.93.

Regional banks traded mostly higher as the European Central Bank begins the biggest withdrawal of cash from the euro zone's banking system in its history. British insurance giant Legal & General rallied 3.4% after backing its FY22 operating profit view.

In economic news, U.K. retail sales volumes advanced 0.6% on a monthly basis in October, data from the Office for National Statistic showed. The monthly growth reversed the revised 1.5% decrease in September, which was affected by the bank holiday for the State Funeral. Year-on-year, the decline in retail sales slowed to 6.1% from 6.8% in September.

Most Asian stock markets kept to a tight range on Friday, after a slew of hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve this week. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Thursday that the central bank needs to raise interest rates much more to curb inflation, with a series of hikes this year having only a limited impact on price pressures.

Sentiment towards China was dented as the country logged its biggest daily jump in COVID cases in seven months. Rising infections brewed concerns over renewed lockdown measures in the country, which have severely crimped economic growth this year. Weak economic readings from China released this week also showed that the country was struggling to navigate new lockdown measures, denting sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei225 index declined 30.80 points, or 0.11%, to 27,899.77. China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.58%, or 18.19 points, to 3,097.24. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 53.12 points, or 0.29%, to 17,992.54. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.1%.

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