(Reuters) – Shares in French spirit makers Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard rallied early on Thursday after China’s commerce ministry said it will not impose provisional anti-dumping measures on brandy imported from the European Union.
Shares in Remy, which jumped over 12%, were up 7% by 0851 GMT, while Pernod, which climbed as much as 12%, was up 4%.
Pernod Ricard’s CEO refused to immediately comment on the decision as he hosted the company’s yearly results on Thursday.
China announced in January a probe into whether EU brandy makers were selling their product in China at below-market rates, weighing on sentiment for cognac producers like Remy.
Remy makes some 70% of its sales from cognac, with China one of its largest markets for the brandy, and its most profitable.
The French cognac industry makes up almost all of China’s EU brandy imports. French producers said they suspected the probe was linked to a broader trade row rather than the liquor market.
Shares in Italian spirits maker Campari and Johnnie Walker whisky maker Diageo also jumped briefly after the announcement, but were respectively up 1.8% and down 1% by 0834 GMT.
German carmakers Volkswagen and BMW, which have been under pressure on uncertainty over how China might respond to the EU’s new tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles, rose slightly on the news.
Shares in BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz rose between 0.6%-1%.
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Ozan Ergenay; editing by Jason Neely and Shri Navaratnam)
