European defence stocks continued their stratospheric rise yesterday after Germany overhauled military spending rules.
London-listed giants Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems saw their share prices hit fresh highs as firms look set to benefit from Europe re-arming to protect Ukraine and their own borders.
Germany’s incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday said it will do ‘whatever it takes’ amid ‘threats to our freedom and peace on our continent’ as he vowed to loosen spending rules to allow greater investment.
It comes after Donald Trump said the US would no longer provide military aid to Ukraine’s fight against Russia, after his dramatic showdown with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky last Friday, which prompted a European leaders’ emergency summit in London, where Sir Keir Starmer pledged a ‘coalition of the willing’ to protect a peace deal in Ukraine.
Shares in BAE Systems – the biggest defence firm in Europe – rose 3.3 per cent, or 52p, to 1621.5p.
Rolls-Royce was up 2.4 per cent, or 18.8p, to 805.2p. Babcock jumped 4.9 per cent, or 34p, to 729.5p and QinetiQ soared 8.8 per cent, or 38.8p, to 493.6p. Chemring jumped 3.9 per cent, or 15.5p, to 418.5p.
In Germany, Rheinmetall surged 7.2 per cent and ThyssenKrupp was up 13.4 per cent. Italian firm Leonardo jumped 3.9 per cent and French group Thales rose 7.6 per cent.
Top gun: London-listed giants Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems, which makes the Eurofighter Typhoon (pictured), saw their share prices hit fresh record highs
DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS
AJ Bell
AJ Bell
Easy investing and ready-made portfolios
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown
Free fund dealing and investment ideas
interactive investor
interactive investor
Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month
Saxo
Saxo
Get £200 back in trading fees
Trading 212
Trading 212
Free dealing and no account fee
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .