European Shares Rally As Inflation Worries Ebb

(RTTNews) - European stocks rose sharply on Thursday to extend gains from the previous session after the FOMC meeting minutes showed that policymakers are determined to tame soaring inflation.

Falling commodity prices and better-than-expected earnings guidance from Samsung Electronics for the second quarter also helped assuage investor concerns about rising inflation.

The pan European Stoxx 600 rallied 1.4 percent to 413.08 after climbing 1.7 percent on Wednesday.

The German DAX jumped 1.8 percent, France's CAC 40 index gained 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 1.1 percent.

The British pound strengthened against the dollar in the wake of unconfirmed reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will resign today, following an unprecedented wave of resignations from his government over the past two days.

ASML Holding N.V. jumped 3.4 percent after South Korea's Samsung Electronics turned in its best April-June profit since 2018.

Sports betting and gambling firm Entain lost 8.2 percent after lowering online gaming annual revenue forecast.

Telecom Italia rose over 1 percent after it outlined the details of a plan to separate its fixed network infrastructure assets from services.

Miners were on the rise, tracking gains in Chinese iron ore futures. Anglo American surged 7.4 percent, Antofagasta jumped 6.4 percent and Glencore added 7.3 percent.

Banks advanced, with Commerzbank, BNP Paribas, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group rising 2-3 percent.

Automakers BMW, Volkswagen and Renault rose 4-5 percent.

Shell gained 2.2 percent after the energy giant said surging margins from fuel production could have added more than $1bn (€980m) to the earnings of its refining business last quarter.

Housebuilder Persimmon plunged 5 percent after it warned of a downturn in the volume of new houses delivered in the first half of the year.

Electronics retailer Currys soared 7 percent after reporting better-than-expected annual pre-tax profit.

Nordex AG shares climbed 6.7 percent. The German wind turbine maker reported higher order intake in the second quarter with strong demand. Separately, the company said it received order for 59 MW in Finland from Falck Renewables.

Lufthansa gained 2.5 percent after logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kuehne increased his stake in the German flag carrier to 15 percent from 10 percent.

Investors shrugged off data showing that German industrial production grew less than expected in May.

Industrial production grew 0.2 percent in May from April, when output was up by revised 1.3 percent, Destatis reported. Output was expected to climb 0.4 percent.

On a yearly basis, industrial output declined 1.5 percent after easing 2.5 percent in April.

U.K. house prices rose at the fastest annual pace since late 2004 in June, survey data from the Llyods Bank subsidiary Halifax showed.

The house price index climbed 13.0 percent year-over-year in June, faster than the 10.7 percent rise in May. The latest annual price increase was the fastest since late 2004.