European markets rallied on Thursday, following a record day for the UK’s FTSE 100 on Wednesday.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index was up 0.52% at mid-morning, with most major stocks and sectors trading positively. Media stocks rose 1.6%, followed by telecoms, up 1.42%.
The FTSE 100 broke above the 8,000 barrier for the first time on Wednesday to close 0.56% higher, even as global markets fell.
Inflation in January stood at 10.12%, the third consecutive monthly drop.
Across the Atlantic, US inflation rose a bit more than expected on Tuesday, sending Asia-Pacific markets lower.
Germany’s Commerzbank reported a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, sending the bank’s share price up 8.4% in morning trading.
The bank also forecasts that this year’s results will be “significantly higher” than those of 2022.
Net income increased 12%, driven by higher interest rates. The bank also posted a second consecutive profitable year as it underwent a major restructuring.
Commerzbank posted its highest net profit in more than 10 years.
Centrica shares rose 6.5% in early trading after the British energy company announced it would extend its share buyback program by £300m.
The company’s annual profit tripled due to high levels of gas and power production amid high raw material prices.
Centrica also owns a 21% stake in Britain’s nuclear fleet, which has boosted production and benefited from higher electricity prices.
The results reflect windfall oil profits reported by companies like BP and Shell.
The £300m buyback program builds on already announced £250m worth of acquisitions. The acquisitions now represent around 10.5% of Centrica’s equity.
Stocks in emerging markets
Stocks in emerging markets rose on Thursday after strong US retail sales data, easing concerns about an economic slowdown in the world’s largest economy. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also broke a four-day losing streak.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.62%, matching Wall Street’s overnight gains, after better-than-expected retail sales data indicated the US economy was resilient.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.8% to close higher after a slow start to the week. At the same time, other Chinese stocks lost early gains and closed lower.
So far, the Hang Seng is down 7.64% from its last high on January 27, as geopolitical stress, fears of aggressive US rate hikes and concerns about China’s economy weighed on the technology index.
!function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function () {
n.callMethod ?
n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = ();
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)
}(window, document, ‘script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘504526293689977’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
