Investing.com - European stock markets were higher on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve said interest rates would remain low for a considerably longer period than expected and it was ready to offer additional stimulus to boost growth.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.43%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.48%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.24%.
In a speech on Wednesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that "there is a case for additional policy action," signaling that the bank may embark on a third round of quantitative easing.
The Fed also left interest rates unchanged near zero and pushed back the likely timing of an eventual rate hike until late 2014, 18 months later than it had previously indicated.
Financial stocks led gains as shares in French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas jumped 3.15% and 1.31%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank added 0.58% and 0.84% respectively.
Peripheral lenders were also higher with Italian Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo surging 1.84% and 2.21%, while shares in Spain’s BBVA and Banco Santander rose 1.34% and 1.01%.
Elsewhere, Technip gained 1.61% after the French oil services company won a contract worth more than EUR900 million euros from Lukoil Neftochim Burgas for the engineering, procurement and construction of a hydrocracking complex in Burgas, Bulgaria.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 added 0.35%, boosted by strong gains in mining stocks.
Rio Tinto led gains with shares soaring 3.19%, while Bhp Billiton climbing 2.47%. Meanwhile, copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys jumped 2.11% and 3.86% respectively.
U.K. lenders also added to gains, tracking their European counterparts higher. Lloyds Banking saw shares surge 2.93% and the Royal Bank of Scotland advanced 2.50%, while Barclays rose 1.74%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.19%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.25% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.28% loss.
Also Tuesday, a report showed that German consumer climate improved unexpectedly in January.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on initial jobless claims as well as a report on durable goods orders.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.43%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.48%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.24%.
In a speech on Wednesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that "there is a case for additional policy action," signaling that the bank may embark on a third round of quantitative easing.
The Fed also left interest rates unchanged near zero and pushed back the likely timing of an eventual rate hike until late 2014, 18 months later than it had previously indicated.
Financial stocks led gains as shares in French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas jumped 3.15% and 1.31%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank added 0.58% and 0.84% respectively.
Peripheral lenders were also higher with Italian Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo surging 1.84% and 2.21%, while shares in Spain’s BBVA and Banco Santander rose 1.34% and 1.01%.
Elsewhere, Technip gained 1.61% after the French oil services company won a contract worth more than EUR900 million euros from Lukoil Neftochim Burgas for the engineering, procurement and construction of a hydrocracking complex in Burgas, Bulgaria.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 added 0.35%, boosted by strong gains in mining stocks.
Rio Tinto led gains with shares soaring 3.19%, while Bhp Billiton climbing 2.47%. Meanwhile, copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys jumped 2.11% and 3.86% respectively.
U.K. lenders also added to gains, tracking their European counterparts higher. Lloyds Banking saw shares surge 2.93% and the Royal Bank of Scotland advanced 2.50%, while Barclays rose 1.74%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.19%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.25% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.28% loss.
Also Tuesday, a report showed that German consumer climate improved unexpectedly in January.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on initial jobless claims as well as a report on durable goods orders.