European stock markets rose on Thursday following a stronger close on Wall Street after the Fed kept its policy rate near zero and the release of better-than-expected data on Germany’s unemployment rate.
France’s CAC 40 was up 1.1%; Germany's DAX rose 1.19%; the EURO STOXX 50 was up 1.34%; and Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.82%.
The Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said earlier that the number of people out of work in Germany climbed a seasonally adjusted 6,000 to 3.43 million, the first increase since June.
The increase brought the adjusted unemployment rate up to 8.2% from 8.1% in December. The report was still seen as good news, though, since analysts had expected the unemployment change figure to rise by 17,000.
In a statement, the agency noted: “It would be premature to consider the development in December 2009 as a trend reversal on the German labor market.”
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. markets was mixed as Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a rise of 0.41%, S&P 500 futures pointed to an increase of 0.44% and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a drop of 0.1%.