European Stocks Rise as Investors Look Beyond French Crisis

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks gained for a sixth straight session in the longest winning streak since May, as investors weighed the latest developments in turbulent French politics.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up 0.4% by the close in London, with travel and leisure stocks and banks outperforming. The French blue-chip CAC 40 index also rose 0.4%, with banks including BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA among top performers.

Prime Minister Michel Barnier used a constitutional tool to push through parts of the budget without a parliamentary vote earlier this week. That led the far-right National Rally party and the left-wing coalition to push ahead with a no-confidence motion against the government.

National Rally leader Marine Le Pen said in an interview with Bloomberg earlier today that France can overcome the government collapse to deliver a budget in “a matter of weeks” — so long as the next prime minister is prepared to narrow the deficit more slowly.

“If the sizable corporate tax hike finally fails to pass in parliament, this would be good news for battered French stocks,” said Roberto Scholtes, head of strategy at wealth manager Singular Bank. “Banks, utilities and infrastructure companies trade at an unprecedented discount to European peers, and this gap should narrow as soon as there’s more visibility.”

The yield premium between French 10-year government bonds and safer German equivalents, a closely-watched gauge of risk, has also narrowed after recently touching 90 basis points, the widest level since 2012.

European stocks look attractive compared to their US peers after several months in which political risks and concerns about economic weakness have weighed on valuations. French stocks in particular have taken a beating as the government was unable to find common ground on its 2025 budget.

“Between yesterday and today we’ve seen relatively contained reaction from the market,” said Marie Jacot, Edmond De Rothschild Asset Management France CEO. “We are starting to see clearly some good entry points for French stocks.”

In other company news, Equinor ASA and Shell Plc are to combine their UK offshore oil and gas assets to form a new company, which will be the UK North Sea’s biggest independent producer.

Elsewhere, Future Plc shares jumped as its revenues for the full year met estimates and Aurubis AG also surged after posting robust full-year numbers. Meanwhile, Safran SA was among the worst performers on the European benchmark after reporting disappointing targets.