European Stocks Close Broadly Higher After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly higher on Wednesday with investors digesting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's hawkish remarks during his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.

Markets also took in their stride the latest batch of economic data from the European region.

Citing stubbornly elevated inflation and stronger than expected economic data, Powell told lawmakers the "ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated."

Powell also said the Fed would be prepared to reaccelerate the pace of rate hikes if the totality of incoming data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted.

Additionally, the Fed chief reiterated the central bank will likely need to maintain a restrictive stance of monetary policy for "some time" in order to restore price stability.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.08%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.13%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.46%, and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.2%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.35% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Denmark, Greece, Ireland and Norway ended weak, while Belgium, Finland and Iceland settled flat.

In the UK market, Hiscox rallied 5.2%. Rolls-Royce Holdings, Antofagasta, Smith (DS), Glencore, Smurfit Kappa Group, Haleon, Natwest Group, Melrose Industries, Rio Tinto, HSBC Holdings, Taylor Wimpey, Kingfisher and National Grid gained 1 to 2.5%.

Admiral Group ended more than 4% down. Land Securities Group, British Land Co., St. Jame's Place, Schrodders, Frasers Group, Segro and GSK lost 1 to 2.5%.

In the German market, Continental soared nearly 8%. Infineon Technologies climbed more than 3%. Bayer, Adidas, Porsche, Siemens, Symrise and Volkswagen gained 1 to 2.2%.

Sartorius ended lower by about 2%. Merck, Brenntag, Vonovia and Siemens Healthineers also closed weak.

In Paris, STMicroElectronics surged more than 3.5%. ArcelorMittal, Bouygues, Danone, AXA, Kering and Vivendi posted moderate gains.

Teleperformance dropped more than 5%. Thales ended lower by about 3.6%, while Essilor, Hermes International and Safran lost 1 to 1.7%.

In economic releases, Euro area economy stagnated in the fourth quarter, following a downward revision, as positive contributions from the government consumption and foreign trade were offset by contractions in household spending and investment.

Gross domestic product remained flat sequentially in the fourth quarter after expanding 0.4% in the preceding period, data from Eurostat showed Wednesday.

Germany's industrial production rebounded in January on strong growth in intermediate goods output, data from Destatis revealed.

Industrial production grew by more-than-expected 3.5% on a monthly basis, offsetting the revised 2.4% decline in December. Output was forecast to grow 1.4%.

Year-on-year, the decline in industrial output halved to 1.6% from 3.3% in the previous month.