European Stocks Close Higher As Markets Look Ahead To Policy Moves By Fed, BoE

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Tuesday after staying positive right through the day's trading session, as investors digested the latest batch of earnings updates and economic data from the region, and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England's policy announcements, due on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

A weak U.S. dollar and lower bond yields contributed as well to the positive trend in the European markets.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday. However, it is believed the Fed might signal a slowdown of its tightening path from next month.

The BoE is also expected to hike interest rate by 75 basis points.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.58%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 1.29%, Germany's DAX gained 0.64% and France's CAC 40 surged 0.98%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.41% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Ireland, Netherlands, Russia and Sweden ended modestly higher. Denmark and Greece closed weak, while Czech Republic ended flat.

In the UK market, Ocado Group shares soared 38.6% after the company partnered with South Korean retail company Lotte Shopping.

Anglo American Plc surged more than 6%. Glencore, B&M European Value Retail, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Prudential, Melrose Industries, Hargreaves Lansdown, 3i Group, JD Sports Fashion, Sainsbury (J), HSBC Holdings and Airtel Africa gained 2.5 to 5%.

Rentokil Initial declined more than 4%. Experian shed about 3.1%. Relx, Croda International Group, BT Group, Unilever and Coca-Cola also closed weak.

Westminster Group shares plunged 21% after the supplier of managed services and technology-based security solutions said that fiscal 2022 revenue outturn will be approximately a third below market expectations.

In the German market, HelloFresh climbed more than 7%. Zalando, Puma, Vonovia, Deutsche Wohnen, HeidelbergCement, Volkswagen, Porsche Automobil, Qiagen, Siemens Healthineers, Siemens, Infineon Technologies and Allianz gained 1 to 4%.

Sartorius ended 3.7% down. Covestro ended lower by about 2.5%. Deutsche Boerse, Symrise, Fresenius Medical Care, Merck and SAP lost 1 to 1.6%.

In Paris, Valeo rallied more than 4%. Faurecia, Hermes International, Airbus Group, Kering, Unibail Rodamco and Renault gained 2 to 3%.

Michelin ended 2.7% down. Teleperformance, Dassault Systemes, Air France-KLM and Sodexo lost 1.3 to 2%.

Data published by Destatis revealed Germany's import price inflation eased more-than-expected in September, though it remained strong overall.

Import prices logged a double-digit annual growth of 29.8% in September, slower than the 32.7% surge in August. Economists had forecast inflation to ease to 31%.

On a monthly basis, import prices dropped unexpectedly by 0.9% in September, reversing a 4.3% rise in August. This was the first monthly decline since April 2020.

The UK manufacturing activity contracted at the fastest pace in more than two years in October on steep fall in orders, final data from S&P Global showed.

The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply factory Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 46.2 in October from 48.4 in September.

The index has remained below the 50.0-mark for three consecutive months, signaling contraction. Nonetheless, the reading was above the flash estimate of 45.8.

UK house prices fell for the first time in 15 months in October after the turmoil caused by the mini-budget announcement hurt the sentiment in the property market as rising borrowing cost worsen the stretched housing affordability, the Nationwide Building Society said.

House prices dropped 0.9% in October from the previous month, marking the first fall since July 2021 and the biggest since June 2020. Prices had remained flat in September.

Survey results from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed Swiss consumer confidence weakened to the lowest level since the survey began in 1972, with the index falling more-than-expected to -46.6 in the fourth quarter from -41.7 in the preceding period. The expected score was -43.0.