DE30: Beauty/luxury sector under pressure, Nordea keeps banking market sentiment!

• DE30 descends into 16,000-point region 

• Beauty/luxury sector under pressure from China and Compagnie Financière Richemont results

• Nordea's results keep banks afloat 

• Successful testing of Argenx's innovative drug lifts its shares 28% higher

The mood in the markets during this week's first trading session is relatively negative. Europe is seeing fairly strong declines, above all in France, where the CAC 40 is losing more than 1% due to sizable declines in luxury goods and cosmetics companies. Sentiment was pressured today by data from China, which came in below expectations, which, combined with a weak sales reading from Compagnie Financière Richemont in the US, spoiled sentiment in the beauty/luxury sector.

The mood in Europe during Monday's trading session is relatively negative. At the moment, the worst performers are the shares of fashion companies, which are losing on the wave of weak macro data from China and the worse-than-expected US sales results of Compagnie Financière Richemont (CFR.CH). Source: xStation 5

German DE30 futures are losing nearly 0.32% during today's session and are slipping to support levels around 16,000 points. Source: xStation 5

News:

The theme of the day during today's session is fashion companies, whose shares are losing sharply on the back of weak data from China and reported lower sales in the US by Compagnie Financière Richemont (CFR.CH), which owns the Cartier brand, among others. 

Current quotations of selected fashion/luxury companies. Source: xStation 5

• Chinese economic indicators showed growth in industrial production and retail sales below forecasts, while unemployment remained stable. China's Bureau of Statistics acknowledged that domestic economic conditions are improving, but cited complex global political and economic factors as challenges.

• China's year-on-year (y/y) industrial production growth was 4.4%, higher than the 2.5% forecast and the 3.5% previously forecast.

• China's unemployment rate remained at 5.2%, in line with the forecast and the previous rate.

• China's year-on-year GDP growth was 6.3%, less than the 7.1% forecast but higher than the previous rate of 4.5%.

• China's year-on-year retail sales growth was 3.1%, slightly below the forecast of 3.3% and well below the previous rate of 12.7%.

It is worth remembering that for all fashion companies, the Chinese market is one of the key markets. 

Interestingly, however, the mood around Richemont was spoiled today by weak sales data from the US, which may signal that the conjuncture for the industry is also being challenged in the West. 

Richemont's Q1 sales rose 14% to €5.32bn ($5.97bn), but organic growth of 19% was below expectations (20%) due to weak performance in the Americas (-4%).

Source: xStation 5

Nordea (NDA.FI), the largest bank in Scandinavia, reported a slightly higher than expected increase in operating profit in the second quarter, as rising interest rates outweighed negative foreign exchange differences. 

The bank's operating profit rose year-on-year by 26% to €1.72 billion, against an average forecast of €1.70 billion in a survey by Refinitiv. 

On the back of the surge, European banks managed to limit broad-market declines. 

Belgian drugmaker Argenx (ARGX.BE) today communicated that its treatment with an antibody called Vyvgart has significantly delayed the progression of an autoimmune nerve disorder that causes loss of sensation and muscle strength in the arms and legs. The positive result - a 61% reduction in the risk of relapse compared to placebo. The company's shares are gaining nearly 28% in today's session. 

The company's shares are climbing to their new historic highs today. Source: xStation 5

The largest percentage changes in individual companies of the DAX index. Source: Bloomberg

News from individual companies in the DAX index. Source: Bloomberg