European stocks rise on suspicion of slowing Fed interest rate hikes – STL.News

European stocks and U.S. futures rose on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell hinted the central bank would slow the pace of U.S. interest rate hikes at its meeting later this week. this month. The regional Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.9% in early trading soared more than 6% in the past month, while London’s FTSE 100 was flat. in the previous session, when Powell suggested that the Fed was preparing to raise rates by 0.5 percentage points at its meeting in two weeks, potentially ending a series of four consecutive movements of 0.75 points percentage. come as early as the December meeting,” Powell said during an appearance at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday. Although Powell called the comments a pledge to “stay the course” and continue the central bank’s fight against inflation until price pressures eased, stock markets surged and Treasuries rallied as investors in futures markets raised expectations of lower interest rates by the end of 2023. “The market viewed inflation as already over, the Fed will pivot very soon and the rate hikes will subside from December,” said Didier Rabattu, head of equities at Lombard Odier Investment Management. “What we’re seeing in the United States is some of the main drivers of inflation going away, the price of food, gas, real estate, all seem to have peaked,” Rabattu added. The S&P 500 closed 3.1% higher on Wednesday, taking November gains to 5.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 4.4% on the day. The yield on the two-year Treasury note, which is sensitive to interest rate expectations, fell 0.01 percentage point to 4.36% early Thursday after falling 0.12 percentage point during from the previous session. Yields rise when prices fall. The yield on the 10-year note fell 0.06 percentage points to 3.63%. Chinese stocks, meanwhile, rose Thursday morning after the country’s top Covid-19 official suggested Beijing had eased its stance on pandemic restrictions. The Hang Seng index gained 0.8%, while China’s CSI 300 gained 1.1%. Elsewhere in Asia, the Japanese Topix traded flat and the South Korean Kospi gained 0.3%.