European Markets Close Higher Ahead Of Fed Announcement

(RTTNews) - Major European markets closed higher on Wednesday amid speculation the Federal Reserve, which is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points later in the day, might soon signal a pause in its tightening cycle.

Investors tracked quarterly earnings announcements for some direction, and looked ahead to the European Central Bank's policy announcement, due on Thursday.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.31%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.2% up, Germany's DAX rose 0.56% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.28%, while Switzerland's SMI climbed 0.73%.

Other markets in Europe ended on mixed note. Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland and Sweden ended higher.

Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Turkiye closed weak, while Netherlands and Spain ended flat.

In the UK market, Pearson rallied more than 10%. Vodafone Group, Melrose Industries, Burberry Group, Scottish Mortgage and Coca-Cola gained 2 to 3%.

Fresnillo, Anglo American Plc, Spirax-Sarco Engineering and Legal & General also ended sharply higher.

Lloyds Banking Group, Haleon, Croda International Group, RS Group, Kingfisher, IAG, Ocado Group and Associated British Foods lost 1.5 to 3.6%.

In Paris, Bouygues and Teleperformance drifted down 4% and 3.3%, respectively. Carrefour, Unibail Rodamco, Vivendi, Renault, BNP Paribas and Publicis Groupe lost 1 to 2.5%.

Stellantis shed nearly 2% despite the company reporting a 14% rise in first-quarter revenues.

Hermes International, Dassault Systemes, Essilor, LVMH, Eurofins Scientific, Capgemini, Schneider Electric and ArcelorMittal gained 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Sartorius climbed more than 5%. Merck surged 3.1% and BASF gained 2.6%, while Fresenius, Siemens, Brenntag, Siemens Healthineers and Munich RE moved up 1.3 to 1.5%.

Zalando, Siemens Energy and Adidas lost 1.6 to 2.2%.

Shares of Milan-headquartered UniCredit gained nearly 4% after the lender reported a 56.5% jump in net revenue growth in its first quarter. The bank has also revised up its full-year guidance.

In economic news, data from Eurostat showed the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the Euro Area decreased slightly to 6.5% in March 2023, marking the lowest rate on record and coming in just below market expectations of 6.6%. This latest figure represented a drop from last year's rate of 6.8%.