Lenterally lifts Bel20 to 4,000 points

The banks are the surprising frontrunner in the European stock market rally of 2024.

No trace of spring fatigue on the European stock markets. The Bel20 was located in Brussels

rising all day to finally close 1.7 percent higher at 3,996.5 points. The basket of shares is again within sight of the 4,000 point mark, a thousand that was last on the boards in May 2022.

The signs elsewhere in Europe also turned green. The Dutch AEX

gained 1 percent and closed above the 900 point mark for the first time. The Euro Stoxx50

the basket of star shares of the eurozone, rose 1.2 percent, bringing the gain since New Year to more than 10 percent.

The rally received fresh fuel last week, thanks to regained optimism about a first interest rate cut by the US central bankers later this year. There is also hope in the eurozone of an interest rate cut in June. This is reflected in lower long-term interest rates: the Belgian ten-year interest rate once again fell below the 3 percent mark.

The star stock of the Euro Stoxx50 this year is far from one usual suspect: UniCredit. The Italian major bank has already gained 47 percent this year and highlighted that rediscovery on Tuesday morning with a strong quarterly report. Net profit rose by a quarter to 2.6 billion euros. CEO Andrea Orcel promises to flow at least as much to shareholders for the whole of 2024 as the 8.6 billion for 2023. That will be almost the entire net profit, which must amount to ‘at least 8.5 billion’. On the Milan stock exchange, UniCredit achieved a growth of more than 3 percent.

The Swiss major bank UBS also posted a better-than-expected first-quarter net profit of $1.8 billion on Tuesday morning, much more than analysts polled by the information provider Bloomberg expected. In particular, the report highlights that UBS made an excellent deal last year by acquiring rival Credit Suisse at well below book value. The UBS share jumped 8 percent higher after the figures.

The Stoxx Banks index has gained 19 percent since New Year, making the banks by far the best performance of all sectors. The sector index is now at its highest level since the summer of 2015.

Investors in other industries also see the glass as half full instead of half empty with almost every report. The chemical group Solvay

started 2024 better than expected, but CEO Philippe Kehren nevertheless maintains the fairly gloomy annual forecast. Analysts suspect that Kehren may have room later this year to narrow the range – an operating profit that is a tenth to a fifth below that of 2023. Solvay shot up 14 percent to a record price of around 35 euros.

The same with Infineon

. The German chip designer, a rival to Melexis for car chips, tempered its annual forecasts. But investors prefer to focus on the forecast for the current quarter, where sales would improve compared to the previous quarter. The conclusion is that the bottom of the cycle has been reached. Infineon shot up 13 percent, while Melexis rose on the Brussels stock exchange

with a gain of 3.9 percent.