European Shares Follow Wall Street Higher As Fed Signals Shift

(RTTNews) - European stocks rallied on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady, as widely expected, and hinted at three rate cuts in 2024, citing easing inflation and slowing growth.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are set to leave interest rates unchanged later today, with investors looking for guidance on future rate path.

The monetary policy summary and the minutes from the BoE are due at 7.00 AM ET. Macro-economic projections from the ECB are due at 8.45 AM ET.

The pan European STOXX 600 was up 1.2 percent at 478.34 after finishing marginally lower on Wednesday.

The German DAX rose 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 added 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 1.9 percent.

Dutch brewing major Heineken N.V. rose 2.3 percent after reappointing Dolf van den Brink as Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer.

Australian electronics firm AMS-Osram soared 9 percent after Jefferies upgraded its rating on the stock to "buy" from "hold."

Bunzl, the British specialist international distribution and services Group, rallied 2.6 percent after upgrading its full-year profit outlook.

Oil & gas company BP rose about 1 percent. The company said it has forfeited a maximum of 32.43 million pounds or $40.59 million in potential remuneration from former CEO Bernard Looney after determining that he knowingly misled the board regarding his personal relationships with colleagues.

Serco Group rallied 5 percent after the outsourcing company forecast 2024 profit to increase to around 260 million pounds ($328.5 million).

Shares of Air France-KLM Group jumped 7 percent in Paris.

The airline confirmed its 2024-2026 outlook and said it has revised upward operating margin outlook to above 8% over the 2026-2028 period.

Media giant Vivendi soared 8.6 percent after revealing a plan to split its businesses.

Germany's Bayer rose 1.6 percent after it announced a collaboration with Iktos to expand the use of AI in the discovery and development of new sustainable crop protection products.

Evotec jumped 6.4 percent. The life science company partnered with Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, to create a molecular patient database for ANCA-associated vasculitis.