European Stocks Close On Firm Note As Fed Rate Cut Hopes Continue To Lift Sentiment

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a firm note on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, and amid expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in December. Investors continued to closely follow Ukraine peace stocks, in addition to digesting the latest batch of economic data from the U.S.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.91%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.78%, Germany's DAX ended stronger by 0.97%, and France's CAC 40 settled with a gain of 0.83%. Switzerland's SMI finished 0.93% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed on a strong note.

Iceland and Norway edged up marginally. Turkiye ended weak, while Portugal closed flat.

In the UK market, shares of home improvement retailer Kingfisher surged more than 6% after the company raised its profit outlook. For the third quarter, the company posted sales of GBP 3.252 billion, up 1% from last year. On like-for-like basis, sales grew by 0.9%.

Kingfisher expects adjusted pre-tax income of GBP 540 million to GBP 570 million for the full-year, compared with the earlier guidance of GBP 480 million to GBP 540 million.

Airtel Africa climbed 6.5%. Burberry Group, Barratt Redrow, Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest Group, Coca-Cola HBC, Mondi, Antofagasta, Howden Joinery Group, British American Tobacco, St. James's Place, Informa, Vodafone Group, Barclays and Games Workshop gained 2 to 5%.

Beazley tanked more than 9% after the company warned of growth slowdown. The company has cut its annual insurance written premiums forecast to a growth rate of flat to low single digits from an earlier forecast of low to mid single digits.

Easyjet ended 1.52% down, despite reporting better-than-expected full-year operating profit..

Intertek Group lost 5.71%. Pearson, BAE Systems, Compass Group, Auto Trader Group and BP also closed notably lower.

In the German market, Heidelberg Materials surged more than 6%. Continental, Daimler Truck Holding, Merck, Commerzbank, Infineon, Siemens and Qiagen gained 2 to 3.4%.

Volkswagen, Munich RE, Porsche Automobil Holdings, Deutsche Telekom, Zalando, Deutsche Bank, Allianz, Hannover Rueck and Rheinmetall also posted strong gains.

Scout24, RWE and SAP lost 1.2 to 2%. Vonovia and Siemens Energy settled modestly lower.

In the French market, Saint Gobain, ArcelorMittal, Stellantis, Societe Generale and BNP Paribas climbed 2 to 4.1%. Michelin gained nearly 2%.

Accor, Vinci, EssilorLuxottica, Credit Agricole, Safran, Veolia Environment, Renault and Publicis Group also ended notably higher.

Revised data from Destatis showed the German economy stagnated in the third quarter as growth in investment was offset by the weakness in exports.

The statistical office confirmed that gross domestic product remained unchanged on a quarterly basis, following a decline of 0.2% in the second quarter.

The expenditure-side of GDP showed that gross fixed capital formation increased 0.3%, following the decline in the previous quarter. Investment in equipment, primarily machinery, tools and vehicles grew 1.1% from a quarter ago. On the other hand, construction investment fell 0.5%.

Overall consumption remained flat in the third quarter. Private consumption declined 0.3%, which was the first fall since the fourth quarter of 2023 as households spent less on restaurants and accommodation services. By contrast, government spending advanced 0.8% from a quarter ago.

Foreign trade provided no positive impetus to the growth. Exports of goods and services were down 0.7%, while imports remained flat from the previous quarter.

French consumer confidence weakened in November after improving in October, survey data from the statistical office INSEE showed.

The consumer sentiment index dropped marginally to 89 in November from 90 in October. Moreover, the score continued to remain below its long-term average of 100.

Assessment about personal financial situation, both past and future remained virtually stable. The corresponding balances of opinion lost one point each to -21 and -12, respectively.