Storebrand Share News (0NO0)

(Sharecast News) - Stocks on the Continent gave up early gains as traders digested what details where available around the US-China trade deal that was inked overnight and tried to figure out what the next catalyst for stockmarkets might be.
There were also some analysts who were breathing a sigh of relief that news of the accord wasn't met with a wave of profit-taking.

"The long-awaited interim trade deal between the US and China was signed yesterday and now it seems that traders don't know what to do with themselves," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

"[...] People are talking about the second-phase, but Mr Trump might keep that up his sleeve for the presidential campaign.

As of 1030 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was dipping 0.08% to 419.29, alongside a fall of 0.25% to 13,401.97 for Germany's Dax, although the FTSE Mibtel was edging up 0.18% to 23,807.58.

On Wednesday evening, the US S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notched up fresh record closing highs, but only slightly so.

Also overnight, Washington and Beijing signed a deal that would see China expand its purchases of US goods by $200.0bn in the next two years, but traders were apparently waiting for evidence that the agreement was being implemented.

There was little in terms of fresh eocnomic news.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association, car registrations in the European Union jumped by 21.7% in December as buyers in France, Sweden and the Netherlands tried to front run tax increases that were due to kick-in come January.

But market commentary was quick to point out that such gains could prove short-lived.

Elsewehre, Germany's Federal Office of Statistics confirmed the 1.5% rate of increase in the country's harmonised consumer price index for December.

Shares of Geberit were a top faller on the Stoxx 600 after the Swiss plumbing supplies outfit posted a 1.9% increase in organic sale over its fourth quarter, with reported sales of 702m Swiss francs undershooting analysts' forecasts.

Berlin-based Hello Fresh on the other hand was near the top of the leaderboard after guiding higher on Wednesday night for both revenues and margins on an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation basis.

Storebrand was also on the up after private equity outfit EQT announced that it had amassed a 2.5% stake in the firm.

Ericsson stock was higher after analysts at Barclays told clients the telecoms equipment maker was "unloved" but well-positioned for 2020, reason why theu upgraded their recommendation on its shares to 'overweight'.

Analysts at UBS on the other hand could be heard expressing a preference for Nokia over Ericsson.