European shares advance as global markets cheer Fed's outsized rate cut

Reuters

European shares advance as global markets cheer Fed's outsized rate cut

Sep 19, 2024 at 8:11 am GMT

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Germany's DAX clocks record closing high

Poland's Allegro slides after Q2 results

Bank of England, Norway's c.bank hold rates steady

STOXX 600 up 1.4%

Updated at 1600 GMT

By Shubham Batra and Shashwat Chauhan

Sept 19 (Reuters) -European stocks jumped on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a 50-basis-point rate cut and flagged that further easing would be measured, raising hopes of a soft landing for the American economy.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index .STOXX closed 1.4% up, its highest closing level in more than two weeks.

Most local bourses also clocked sharp gains, with Germany's blue-chip benchmark .GDAXI jumping 1.6% to 19002.38 points, an all-time closing high.

Growth-sensitive technology stocks .SX8P jumped 3.5%, in tandem with tech giants on Wall Street, while miners .SXPP added 3% after prices of most base metals rose with the long-awaited Fed rate cut and weakened the dollar. MET/L

Utilities .SX6P and telecoms .SXKP lagged with a more than 1% fall each.

The U.S. central bank kicked off its monetary-easing cycle on Wednesday with a jumbo reduction that brought the benchmark policy rate to 4.75%-5.00% range.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said this was meant to show policymakers' commitment to sustaining a low unemployment rate now that inflation has eased.

"The September FOMC meeting signals an important dovish shift in the Fed's reaction function," said Frederik Ducrozet, head of macroeconomic research at Switzerland-based Pictet Wealth Management.

"Chair Powell wants to be more pre-emptive in securing a soft landing and his tolerance for further softness in the labour market seems quite low."

Following the Fed's move, analysts also wondered how the European Central Bank (ECB) would proceed after it had opted to cut rates by a modest 25 bps in June and September.

"The Fed's determination and the acceleration of disinflation in the euro area will probably lead the ECB to dial back its restrictiveness more rapidly in 2025," added Pictet's Ducrozet.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England kept interest rates at 5.0%, saying it would be careful about future cuts, and also held off from running down its bond holdings at a faster pace.

UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE ended 0.9% higher, while the pound GBP=D3 strengthened 0.5% against the dollar.

Norway's central bank also held its policy interest rate unchanged at a 16-year high of 4.50% and said any cuts must wait until the first quarter of next year. Norway's benchmark bourse .OSEAX closed 0.5% up.

Among other headlining stocks, Italy's Campari CPRI.MI, whose shares had fallen more than 7% in the last session, jumped 9.5% after its majority shareholder said it would buy shares worth up to 100 million euros ($111 million) in the spirits maker.

Poland's biggest e-commerce platform Allegro ALEP.WA dropped more than 8% after forecasting slower growth at home, its largest market, in the current quarter, despite beating second quarter earnings estimates.

Reporting by Shubham Batra and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Conor Humphries

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