Europe midday: Travel & Leisure stocks pace losses in roller-coaster trading

(Sharecast News) - Stocks on the Continent are trading mostly higher in a roller-coaster day of trading with shares buffeted by news of the continued spread of the coronavirus offset by signals from economic officials around the world that they stand ready to act.
In a rare statement on Friday evening, the head of the US central bank, Jerome Powell, said the Federal Reserve stood ready to act, while the Bank of England and Bank of Japan have said that steps are being taken to protect financial and monetary stability.

For his part, European Central Bank vice-President, Luis de Guindos, said the monetary authority remains vigilant, but data-dependent.

But some traders remained cautious.

Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK was among those, telling clients: "Unlike in 2008 bond yields in the US, and elsewhere are already at record lows, and while markets might be able to take comfort from Friday's comments from Fed chair Powell and relief could well be short-lived if the rise in cases over the weekend continues to accelerate and global economic data shows no signs of improving."

As of 1430 GMT, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was up by 0.12% at 376.11, alongside a 0.08% dip on the German Dax to 11,881.42, while the Cac-40 was ahead by 0.22% at 5,318.94.

In parallel, euro/dollar was jumping 0.75% to 1.1125, as traders moved to price in a 50 basis point rate cut by the Fed by as soon as the end of March.

Travel & Leisure stocks were again at the epicentre of selling, with the Stoxx 600's sector gauge down 2.09% to 213.75 and stock in IAG at the bottom of the pile and down by 10%.

The VStoxx, a closely-followed gauge of volatility for the Euro Stoxx 50 benchmark, was 10.3% lower to 37.89.

Hewson wasn't alone in his cautious view, with economists at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development slashing their 2020 global GDP growth forecasts from 2.9% to 2.4% - which would be the weakest pace since 2009.

Should the situation worsen, "co-ordinated policy actions across all the major economies would be needed" the OECD said.

Over the weekend, the number of new coronavirus cases in Italy jumped by roughly half to reach 1,694, while in South Korea they increased by 586 to 3,736.

In China, the caseload increased by 579 on Sunday after a 435 rise on Saturday.

That news was preceded by a record low reading on the 'official' Chinese manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers' Index for February released on Saturday.

What new economic data was available in the euro area on the other hand remained relatively buoyant, with IHS Markit's euro area factory sector Purchasing Managers' Index revised higher from 49.1 to 49.2, that was up from a print of 49.1 in January.

"Despite widespread reports from companies that the coronavirus outbreak disrupted supply chains and hit foreign sales, resulting in considerably longer lead times and a steepening drop in export orders, February saw encouraging signs that the eurozone's manufacturing downturn is easing."