Major European indexes advanced slightly early on Thursday, following gains in the US stock market. At the time of writing, the STOXX Europe 600 increased by 0.2% to 435.18 points. The index lost 0.6% over the past week due to investor anxiety about global economic growth amid rising inflation, monetary tightening by major central banks, the conflict in Ukraine, and the lockdowns in China.
The best-performing stock on the STOXX Europe 600 early on Thursday was Intermediate Capital Group PLC, which was propelled upwards by a strong fiscal year report.
Ted Baker PLC also increased after the company reported lower annual loss in this fiscal year.The market cap of Johnson Matthey PLC slumped following the release of a weak outlook for the next year.
The CAC 40 gained 0.56%, the DAX increased by 0.5%, and the FTSE 100 rose by 0.11%.
European investors focused on the yesterday's upsurge in the US markets. US indexes closed in positive territory yesterday as traders became less concerned about aggressive Fed monetary tightening.
According to the latest Fed meeting minutes, most Federal Reserve policymakers backed increasing the interest rate by 50 basis points at several upcoming policy meetings, easing trader anxiety.
Many market players earlier expected larger rate moves by the US regulator.
Wednesday's trading session
On Wednesday, major European indexes went upwards, recovering some of their earlier losses. Strong macroeconomic data from leading eurozone countries gave support to the stock market.
The STOXX Europe 600 increased by 0.63% to 434.31 points. The index lost 1.1% on Tuesday.
On the STOXX Europe 600, Wednesday's best performing stock was Verbung AG, which jumped by 9.4%.
The worst performers were BHP Group (-10,5%), which recently closed its share register, and JD Sports (-6%)
The CAC 40 gained 0.73%, while the DAX and the FTSE 100 increased by 0.63% and 0.51% respectively.
Shares of TotalEnergies SE rose by 2.9% on Wednesday after the company acquired a 50% stake in the US renewable energy company Clearway.
Marks & Spencer Group Plc increased by 4.8%, thanks to strong quarterly earnings report.
The market cap of Glencore Plc edged up by 0.3%
Strong macroeconomic data from Germany gave support to European indexes on Wednesday. The IFO business climate index unexpectedly increased to 93 points in May from 91.8 points in April, despite anxiety over rising inflation and the war in Ukraine. The index was expected to fall to 91.4 points.
According to preliminary estimates, Germany's GDP has increased by 4% YoY in the first quarter of 2022.
Furthermore, the GfK consumer confidence index edged up to -26 points from a downwardly revised -26.6 in the previous month.
