AGL 38.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.81%)
AIRLINK 136.69 Decreased By ▼ -4.71 (-3.33%)
BOP 5.42 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-3.9%)
CNERGY 3.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-1.03%)
DCL 7.59 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.4%)
DFML 46.05 Decreased By ▼ -1.35 (-2.85%)
DGKC 80.35 Increased By ▲ 0.60 (0.75%)
FCCL 28.03 Increased By ▲ 0.59 (2.15%)
FFBL 55.21 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.66%)
FFL 8.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.23%)
HUBC 112.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.86 (-0.76%)
HUMNL 12.33 Increased By ▲ 1.13 (10.09%)
KEL 3.85 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-3.51%)
KOSM 8.07 Decreased By ▼ -0.47 (-5.5%)
MLCF 35.11 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.31%)
NBP 66.00 Increased By ▲ 2.20 (3.45%)
OGDC 171.16 Increased By ▲ 1.76 (1.04%)
PAEL 25.18 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PIBTL 6.20 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (5.26%)
PPL 132.85 Increased By ▲ 7.10 (5.65%)
PRL 24.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.39 (-1.57%)
PTC 14.52 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.5%)
SEARL 58.95 Increased By ▲ 1.50 (2.61%)
TELE 7.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.42%)
TOMCL 35.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TPLP 8.09 Increased By ▲ 0.64 (8.59%)
TREET 14.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.14%)
TRG 45.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.95 (-2.04%)
UNITY 25.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-0.73%)
WTL 1.20 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 9,084 Decreased By -6.9 (-0.08%)
BR30 27,631 Increased By 252.1 (0.92%)
KSE100 85,453 Decreased By -216.1 (-0.25%)
KSE30 27,149 Decreased By -67.3 (-0.25%)

PARIS: European shares rose on Wednesday, as dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and fresh US economic data firmed rate cut expectations, while investors awaited the second round of the French vote and national elections in the UK.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.7% up, rising for a second session out of the last seven.

Wall Street gained on Wednesday after labour market and business activity data in the United States pointed to softening economic conditions, cementing hopes of a September rate cut.

The data follows Powell’s remarks on Tuesday that recent data represented “significant progress” on inflation.

Technology stocks added 1.6%, underpinned by Dutch semiconductor equipment makers ASML Holding and BE Semiconductor Industries, jumping 2% and 7.3%, respectively. “At some point, there will be some correction (in the markets) to the downside. When this starts for semiconductors, other sectors should be there to give support and limit the S&P 500’s losses,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, market analyst at Swissquote.

Miners were the top sectoral gainers, advancing 2.2%, after copper prices climbed on a softer dollar amid renewed hopes of US rate cuts and signs of firmer demand from top consumer China.

French stocks climbed 1.2% as opponents of France’s National Rally (RN) stepped up their bid to block the far-right party from power, with more candidates agreeing to pull out of this weekend’s run-off election to avoid splitting the anti-RN vote.

“The expectation that the left will band together in order to stem the tide of the far right has soothed nerves a bit,” said Danni Hewson, Head of Financial Analysis at AJ Bell.

“But a hung Parliament in France would create a huge amount of instability.” The UK’s FTSE 100 also gained 0.6% ahead of the July 4 vote, which could see a possible end to 14 years of Conservative government.

JD Sports dropped 3.9% to the bottom of the London’s blue chip index, however, after Barclays cut the sports fashion retailer to “underweight” from “equal-weight”, citing concerns about the company’s heavy reliance on Nike.

Among other stocks, Danish shipping giant Maersk rose 3.7% after it agreed to sell its offshore marine service provider Maersk Supply Service to Norway’s DOF Group for $1.11 billion.

Bpost tumbled 7.5% after the Belgian postal operator issued a downbeat full-year earnings forecast, citing unfavourable market conditions in North America.

Comments

Comments are closed.