Europe midday: Remy, LVMH results boost shares; Eyes on US data

(Sharecast News) - European markets extended gains on Friday as luxury stocks led the way and investors digested the European Central Bank's decision to hold rates steady, although more gloom from a consumer survey in German tempered the mood. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.33% at 480.11. Germany's DAX rallied from the red to be up 0.17% after the GfK/NIM survey showed an unexpected fall in consumer confidence as inflation deterred people from major purchases.

The consumer sentiment index dropped to -29.7 in February, from a downwardly-revised -25.4 in January and well below the consensus -24.5, said the GfK institute and Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).

"If there were any hopes of a sustained recovery in sentiment, these were dashed in January," said Rolf Buerkl, consumer expert at the NIM. "The consumer climate suffered a severe setback at the beginning of the year."

Another GfK survey in the UK was more upbeat, showing consumer confidence edged higher in December, as people became more optimistic for the year ahead.

The consumer confidence index, which has been running since 1974, rose two points this month to -22.

Investors are also eyeing US inflation numbers later in the day, with the publication of the personal consumption expenditure index - a key indicator of what people are paying for goods and services.

In equity news, luxury and high-end spirit stocks surged after upbeat results from LVMH, which reported a 10% rise in fourth-quarter sales late on Thursday.

Remy Cointreau surged after posting a slightly smaller-than-expected decline in third quarter sales.

The sentiment boosted sector peers such as Richemont, Moncler, Campari, Diageo, Pernod-Ricard and Christian Dior.

Swiss pharma company Lonza also soared after confirming fiscal targets and reporting sales and margin growth last year.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com