European stocks mixed as markets digest latest Fed minutes

Elliot Smith&Holly Ellyatt

European markets were flat on Thursday morning as investors assessed the latest meeting minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

European markets

TICKER	COMPANY	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.FTSE	FTSE 100	7461.89	-3.35	-0.04
.GDAXI	DAX	14465.81	38.22	0.26
.FCHI	CAC 40 Index	6682.61	3.52	0.05
.FTMIB	FTSE MIB	24676.26	95.12	0.39
.IBEX	IBEX 35 Idx	8353.8	22.6	0.27

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was little changed in early trade, with minimal movement across the board. Retail stocks slipped 0.5% while autos gained 0.5%.

Minutes from the November meeting signaled that the central bank is seeing progress in its fight against high inflation and is looking to slow the pace of rate hikes, meaning smaller ones through the end of this year and into 2023.

“A substantial majority of participants judged that a slowing in the pace of increase would likely soon be appropriate,” the minutes stated.

European investors also reacted to Wednesday’s flash November PMI (purchasing managers’ index) readings from the euro zone, which reaffirmed that the 19-member currency bloc has entered recession, but showed the downturn in business activity slowing slightly.

Overnight, markets in the Asia-Pacific traded higher, reacting positively to the Fed saying it expected to switch to smaller rate hikes “soon.” U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday following a choppy session. Markets on Wall Street are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

CNBC Pro: Betting against a British supermarket, short-seller expects nearly 50% collapse in share price

There’s more pain to come for investors in a British supermarket company if short-seller’s a prediction comes through.

The hedge fund currently holds a bearish bet worth £32.6 million and expects shares in the grocer to fall by 44%.

The fund’s chief investment officer also believes the supermarket will raise fresh capital by diluting shareholders year after year to keep itself afloat in a challenging environment.

— Ganesh Rao

CNBC Pro: Asset manager says investors must buy this large-cap stock right now

There’s one large-cap stock that investors must buy into right now, according to Rob Luna, chief investment strategist at asset manager Surevest.

He calls its CEO a “significant visionary.”

While Luna has picked the one large-cap stock, he advised investors generally to reallocate into smaller names, naming two stocks that he called “best in breed.”

— Weizhen Tan

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are heading for a higher open Tuesday as investors in the region appear to shrug off concerns among their U.S. and Asia-Pacific counterparts over China’s tightening of Covid restrictions, which are continuing to pressure output.

The U.K.’s FTSE index is expected to open 27 points higher at 7,407, Germany’s DAX up 33 points at 14,419, France’s CAC up 20 points at 6,653 and Italy’s FTSE MIB up 70 points at 24,433, according to data from IG.

Data releases include preliminary consumer confidence data for the euro zone in November.

— Holly Ellyatt

Source : CNBC