European shares surge to fresh record highs as luxury giants rally on China stimulus

LONDON — European markets were higher Friday, tracking gains in China on news of a stimulus blitz, while investors also weighed fresh inflation data.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.3% higher at around 11:50 a.m. London time, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Autos and chemicals stocks led the gains, both up around 2% higher.

It comes after Chinese markets clocked their best week in almost 16 years, with the mainland’s CSI 300 rallying 15.7% this week. The last time the index saw a bigger weekly gain was the week ending Nov. 14, 2008.

China launched a large-scale stimulus package this week to boost growth and restore confidence in the world’s second-largest economy.

The People’s Bank of China said it is cutting its seven-day reverse repo rate to 1.5%, the second reduction in around three months, and slashed the reserve requirement ratio of financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points.

In Europe, France and Spain both published preliminary data Friday showing a sharp drop in harmonized inflation this month. The readings have fueled expectations that the headline inflation rate of the euro zone as a whole will reflect a steep drop to below the ECB’s 2% target.

Statistics agency Eurostat is scheduled to publish flash euro zone inflation data for September on Tuesday.

Looking at individual stock moves, shares of Italian fashion group Moncler were last up nearly 9%, hitting the top of the European benchmark. It comes after French luxury giant LVMH struck a deal to invest in Double R, an investment vehicle controlled by Moncler, Reuters reported. Shares of LVMH rose 1.5% on the news.

Meanwhile, shares of Spanish bank Banco Sabadell tumbled almost 5%. The lender is the subject of a hostile takeover bid from larger Spanish bank, BBVA.

Speaking to CNBC’s Charlotte Reed on Thursday, Banco Sabadell CEO César González-Bueno said BBVA’s proposal is “very volatile” and offers a “completely insufficient” price. Earlier in the week, BBVA CEO Onur Genç told CNBC that the takeover was “moving according to plan.”

European stocks had closed 1.25% higher on Thursday, tracking gains in Asia-Pacific markets, which were buoyed by China’s announcement of stimulus measures earlier in the week.

Meanwhile in the U.S., attention turned to the release of August’s personal consumption expenditures price index which is slated for Friday. The PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. Economists are expecting headline PCE to have risen 2.3% on an annual basis and 0.1% from the previous month.

U.S. stock futures were slightly higher ahead of the key data release.

— CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.