by 3 minutes Reuters (Reuters) – European stocks climbed on Friday, with travel sectors rebounding following a week of steep losses, and a slew of good earnings reports obscuring concerns about an increase of Delta variant cases throughout the continent. On July 15, 2021, a stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, displays a graph of the German share price index DAX. REUTERS/Staff The STOXX 600 index increased 0.1 percent throughout Europe. Nonetheless, the index was expected to finish the week flat to slightly lower. Travel and leisure companies rose 1.1 percent, with shares in Whitbread, Intercontinental Hotels, and IAG, the parent company of British Airways, rising over 3%. Despite mounting COVID-19 cases, the UK’s FTSE 100 and midcap stocks gained 0.3 percent each ahead of Britain’s relaxation of all pandemic-related restrictions on Monday. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the US is considering when it can eliminate restrictions that prevent most non-US people from traveling to the US from much of Europe, which will help the tourism and leisure industry. Concerns about increased inflation and growing infections slowing the economy’s recovery have weighed heavily on investors’ thoughts this week, driving many to the safety of bond markets and making it more difficult for record-high shares to add to their gains. “Markets have mostly moved sideways this week, indicating some cross-currents,” according to Silvia Dall’Angelo, senior economist at Federated Hermes’ international division. “On the one hand, a good start to the second quarter earnings season in the United States and dovish central bank language continued to provide support. However, a number of concerns have weighed on the outlook, including poor Chinese activity statistics and evidence that growth and profitability have peaked “.. Swedbank gained 2.5 percent after reporting a higher-than-expected profit on the back of a booming mortgage market and record commission income. Richemont, the producer of Cartier, fell 1.3 percent despite quarterly constant-currency revenues more than doubling, boosted by its jewellery brands’ excellent performance in the Americas. Despite high sales, UK luxury group Burberry and German athletic business Puma both declined. Ericsson, of Sweden, fell 8.5 percent after reporting second-quarter core earnings that fell short of market expectations, owing to a drop in mainland China sales. Rio Tinto, a UK-listed miner, slumped 1.6 percent after announcing a 12 percent drop in quarterly iron ore exports due to cyclones in West Australia. COVID-19 new daily cases graphic -In Bengaluru, Sruthi Shankar contributed reporting, and Uttaresh.V. edited the piece./n
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