City of London skyline on 10th June 2024 in London, United Kingdom. The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the primary central business district CBD of London.
Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images
LONDON — European stocks moved higher on Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s latest comments on the future path of interest rates.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.47% by 11:45 a.m. London time, with all major bourses and most sectors in the green. Retail stocks added 1.35%, while mining stocks fell by 0.78%.
Shares of Swiss Re rose 3.16% after the insurer reported a 16% rise in first-half net profits to $2.09 billion. Meanwhile, Aegon shares fell 5.85% after reporting a net loss of 65 million euros ($72.41 million) in the first half of this year.
The British pound, meanwhile, jumped to a 13-month high of $1.3127 after fresh data showed an increase in U.K. business activity. Sterling was trading at $1.3119 by 11:41 a.m. London time, its highest level since July 2023.
Corresponding PMI data for the euro zone also showed an uptick in business activity over the month, even as wage growth eased, paving the way for a potential September rate cut from the European Central Bank.
It comes after Fed minutes released Wednesday showed that officials had moved closer to a long-awaited interest rate cut during their July meeting, with the vast majority of participants agreeing that a reduction was “likely” come September if the data “continued to come in as expected.”
U.S. stock futures were marginally lower Thursday morning as investors looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday.
In Asia, markets were mixed as investors digested business activity data from Australia and Japan and awaited PMI numbers from India.
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