European stocks higher as mining stocks lead gains; Swiss central bank cuts rates

Sam Meredith@in/samuelmeredith@smeredith19 & Holly Ellyatt@HollyEllyatt

LONDON — European stocks were higher Thursday morning, spurred on by overnight gains in Asia-Pacific markets.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 1% at around 10:40 a.m. London time, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

Mining stocks led the gains, up more than 3.6%, with tech and household goods stocks both around 3% higher.

Oil and gas stocks, however, fell more than 2.8% as crude prices dropped on a Financial Times report that Saudi Arabia is preparing to scrap its unofficial oil price target of $100 a barrel. Energy firms including BP, Shell and TotalEnergies all traded more than 3% lower.

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The relatively upbeat start to Europe’s trading day comes after Asia-Pacific markets rose overnight.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 4.16%, reaching its highest level since May, while mainland China’s CSI 300 extended its winning streak to the seventh day.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.79%, while the broad based Topix was up 2.66%, as the Bank of Japan released minutes of its July meeting.

Back in Europe, shares of French luxury group Kering rose toward the top of the regional benchmark. The fashion group’s stock performance has slumped in recent months amid concerns about demand in China. However, Kering shares jumped more than 6% on Thursday.

Shares of H&M fell 3% after the clothing retailer posted a miss on operating profit and abandoned its earnings margin target.

SNB cuts rates

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) on Thursday cut interest rates by a quarter point, bringing its key interest rate down to 1.0%. The move to lower borrowing costs, which had been widely anticipated, marked the SNB’s third rate reduction of 2024.

Stateside, meanwhile, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were slightly higher on Thursday after the index broke a four-day winning streak. Traders will be keeping a close eye on the weekly jobless claims report, due Thursday.

Economists polled by Dow Jones anticipate 223,000 initial unemployment claims were filed for the week ending Sept. 21. The final reading of second-quarter gross domestic product is also out in the morning.

Several Federal Reserve officials are also slated to speak on Thursday, including Chair Jerome Powell and New York Fed President John Williams.

Source : cnbc