A recovery revives hope in US and European stocks (Getty)
The good business results of Nike (sports clothing) and FedEx (shipping) removed some of the investor’s fears of a decline in corporate profits due to recession forecastUS stocks rose for the second day in a row, while European stocks witnessed their best day in nearly six weeks.
During trading on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 526 points, representing 1.6% of its value at the beginning of the day, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices gained nearly 1.5% of their value.
Sam Stoffol, chief investment officer at research firm CFRA, said markets had overstated the declines during the last daysAnd it was waiting for a reason to rise again, which came with the business results issued by the companies. “But I don’t know,” Stofall told CNBC Business News To what extent Those hikes can continue.”
Nike’s share rose by 12% after exceeding Wall Street expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue, and FedEx’s share price increased by 3.4% after announcing earnings per share that exceeded estimates, and the company’s success in reducing its costs.
Concurrently, US consumer confidence data for the month of December, which exceeded expectations and jumped to its highest level since last April, boosted investor sentiment in the main stock markets.
Also on Wednesday, European stocks rose, benefiting from improved US sentiment and higher retail earnings. The European Stoxx 600 index ended the day’s trading, up 1.7%, and shares of consumer accessories sector companies, such as Adidas and Puma, led the gains, after the profits of their American competitor Nike rose.
In a related way, oil prices rose by more than two dollars a barrel at the settlement, as data showed a larger-than-expected decline in US crude inventories, but the gains were curtailed by a snow storm that is expected to affect travel in the United States.
Brent crude futures for February delivery rose $2.21, or 2.76%, to $82.20 a barrel, while US West Texas crude futures rose $2.06, or 2.7%, to $78.29 a barrel.
US crude inventories fell by 5.89 million barrels, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration, compared to estimates for a decrease of 1.66 million barrels.
Market sources said that data from the American Petroleum Institute showed, on Tuesday, that inventories decreased by 3.1 million barrels in the week ending December 16.