European Stocks Close On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Wednesday, extending recent gains, amid hopes the U.S. government shutdown will end soon, possibly even by this Friday.

Expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve next month, and data showing a smaller than expected increase in Germany's consumer price inflation also contributed to markets' positive close.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.7%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.12%, Germany's DAX gained 1.22% and France's CAC 40 closed up by 1.04%. Switzerland's SMI ended up by 0.72%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Netherlands and Russia ended weak.

In the UK market, SSE zoomed nearly 17% after Jefferies called the company's announcement of a £2 billion share placing, a positive mote. The company aims to use the proceeds to help fund its £33 billion investment program through 2030, focused on UK power networks and renewables.

Games Workshop gained about 6%. Burberry Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Endeavour Mining, Airtel Africa, IAG, Melrose Industries, Fresnillo, Croda International, HSBC Holdings, Barclays, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Smiths Group and Smith & Nephew also ended with strong gains.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey closed sharply lower after weekly average for number of private sales per site dropped 11 percent in key autumn period.

Experian closed down 4.48%. Auto Trader Group, 3i Group, LSEG, Relx, Hiscox, Berkeley Group Holdings, Informa, Next, RightMove and Tesco lost 2 to 4%.

In the German market, RWE soared nearly 9% after nine-month profit beat expectations.

Infineon surged more than 6.5% after the chipmaker significantly raised its 2026 sales target for the AI power supply segment. In the fourth quarter, profit was 231 million euros or 0.17 euro per share, compared to prior year's loss of 84 million euros or 0.07 euro per share.

Bayer gained about 6.3% after its third-quarter adjusted profit beat market view.

Heidelberg Materials, Brenntag, Commerzbank, Merck, Deutsche Bank, Zalando, BMW, Porsche Automobil Holding, Deutsche Post and Fresenius gained 1.7 to 5%.

E.ON and Scout24 closed sharply lower.

In the French market, Societe Generale climbed more than 3%. Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas, Capgemini, LVMH, Engie, Renault, Legrand, Schneider Electric and Hermes International gained 1.7 to 2.8%.

Edenred ended down by 4% after the company warned that it would cut its 2026 profit guidance.

Data from Destatis showed Germany's consumer price inflation weakened in October after rising for two straight months. The consumer price index logged an annual increase of 2.3%, which was slower than the 2.4% rise in September. The rate came in line with the estimate released on October 30.

Excluding food and energy, core inflation held steady at 2.8%, as initially estimated.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices gained 0.3% in October.

EU harmonized inflation weakened to 2.3%, in line with estimate, from 2.4% in September. Month-on-month, the harmonized index of consumer prices moved up 0.3%, following a 0.2% in September.

Another data from Destatis showed that wholesale price inflation softened to 1.1% in October from 1.2% in the previous month. On a monthly basis, wholesale prices climbed 0.3%, slightly faster than September's 0.2% increase.