European shares rose on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s overnight gains after a widely expected hike in US interest rates, while optimism about Russian-Ukrainian peace talks boosted sentiment.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.5% by 0819 GMT and is on track to recover all of its losses in March.
Wall Street indices rose, on Wednesday, as investors digested the start of US monetary policy tightening. The Federal Reserve (the US central bank) raised interest rates by a quarter of a point, as expected, and hinted at raising the same amount at every meeting of the year.
Commodity stocks led the morning gains in Europe, as the mining sector index rose 0.7 percent.
The oil sector index rose 0.9 percent, with crude prices increasing by about 3 percent, after the International Energy Agency warned of a shortage of supplies.
German ThyssenKrupp shares plunged 6.1 percent after suspending its 2021-2022 forecast for cash flow ahead of mergers and acquisitions due to the Ukraine crisis.
France’s Veolia rose 2.7 percent after the company said it expected to increase net profit more than 20 percent this year after completing its takeover of rival Suez.
Japanese stocks
The Japanese Nikkei index closed, Thursday, at its highest level in more than two weeks, following the path of a strong rise on Wall Street last night, after the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) raised interest rates as expected, while boosting hopes of a breakthrough in Russian-Ukrainian conflict morale.
The Nikkei index jumped 3.46% to 26652.89 points, the highest closing level since the first of March, and the broader Topix index rose 2.47% to 1899.01 points.
Benefit
Wall Street’s main indices rose after the US central bank raised the interest rate for the first time since 2018, and announced a plan for further rate hikes to combat inflation. The SoftBank Investment Group’s share jumped 5.89%, following the rise in the share of Alibaba, one of the group’s holdings, by 40% in US trading. Other leading shares, including Fast Retailing, owner of Uniqlo clothing stores, rose 6.92%, and Tokyo Electron rose 4.86%.
East Japan Railways Corp. fell 1.81% after the railway operator suspended express train operations to Fukushima and other areas in the north. The suspension of operations came after a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan’s northeastern coast off Fukushima on Wednesday.
(agencies)