European Stocks Close Sharply Higher On U.S. Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - After struggling for direction till around mid afternoon, European stocks flared up in the final hour of the session on Thursday after data showing a smaller than expected rise in U.S. consumer prices helped raise optimism the Fed will slow the pace of interest rate hike as early as next month.

The early weakness was due to inconclusive U.S. midterm election results and tightening Covid-19 curbs in China, and caution ahead of U.S. inflation data.

The data from the Labor Department showed the consumer price index rose by 0.4% in October, less than expected increase of 0.6%. The annual rate of growth in consumer prices also slowed to 7.7% in October from 8.2% in September.

The annual rate of growth in core prices slowed to 6.3% in October from 6.6% in September, coming in below the expected 6.5% growth.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 2.75%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.08%, Germany's DAX surged 3.51% and France's CAC 40 advanced 1.96%, while Switzerland's SMI gained 1.98%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Czech Republic ended weak, while Norway closed flat.

In the UK market, Covatec Group, Segro, JD Sports Fashion, ICP, Schrodders, Hargreaves Lansdown, Persimmon, St. Jame's Place, Centrica and Ashtead Group gained 7 to 9%.

Croda International Group, Ocado Group, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Unite Group, Taylor Wimpey, Scottish Mortgage, British Land, Barratt Developments and Smurfit Kappa Group gained 5.5 to 7%.

IAG, Kingfisher, RS Group, Legal & General, M&G, Fresnillo, Rentokil Initial, Next and Admiral Group also rallied sharply.

In the French market, Faurecia, Valeo, Dassault Systemes, STMicroElectronics, Unibail Rodamco and WorldLine surged 7 to 9%.

CapGemini, Hermes International, Renault, Saint Gobain, Legrand, Schneider Electric, LVMH, Kering, Essilor and Pernod Ricard were among the other big gainers.

Teleperformance shares plunged nearly 34%. Credit Agricole, Thales, Safran and Carrefour ended lower by 1 to 3%.

In the German market, Zalando zoomed more than 13%. HelloFresh and Continental both gained nearly 9%.

Infineon Technologies, SAP, Symrise, Deutsche Post, Siemens Healthineers, Daimler, Puma, Vonovia, Allianz, Sartorius and Siemens gained 4 to 7%.

In economic news from Europe, the latest KPMG and REC, Report on Jobs survey, compiled by S&P Global showed UK permanent job placements declined for the first time in 20 months in October as heightened uncertainty over the economic outlook weighed on hiring.

The survey showed that recruitment activity waned in October as the number of permanent placements decreased for the first time since February 2021. At the same time, temp billings stagnated.