Investing.com - European stocks were higher on Thursday, as hopes for progress to avoid a fiscal crisis in the U.S. supported market sentiment, although concerns over Greece continued to linger.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 jumped 1.11%, France’s CAC 40 rallied 1.03%, while Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 0.82%.
Sentiment found support after U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, on Wednesday voiced optimism that Republicans could broker a deal with the White House to avert a fiscal crisis, while President Barack Obama said he hoped to reach an agreement with Congress before Christmas.
Investors fear the planned tax increases and spending cuts, due to start on January 1 and totalling about USD600 billion, could push the world's biggest economy into recession and weigh on the global economic outlook.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid lingering concerns over Greece’s latest aid package, agreed on by officials from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund earlier this week.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale climbed 1.21% and 1.40%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank advanced 1.53% and 0.96% respectively.
Peripheral lenders also posted sharp gains, led by Spain's BBVA, up 2.19%, and closely followed by Banco Santander, whose shares jumped 2.14%, while Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit rallied 1.84% and 1.80%
Elsewhere, Zurich Insurance Group gained 1.57% after Chief Executive Officer Martin Senn said that he expects "significant additional efficiencies" from the company’s actions in 2012, which include cost cuts of USD200 million so far this year.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 climbed 0.83%, boosted by gains in oil and mining stocks, while data showed that U.K. house prices were flat in November.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton trended sharply higher, with shares jumping 3.27% and 1.84%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys surged 1.52% and 3.10% respectively.
Oil and gas major Anglo American was also on the upside, advancing 1.90%, while rival BP rose 0.33%.
The financial sector added to gains, as HSBC Holdings added 0.95% and Barclays climbed 1.49%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland rallied 1.65% and Lloyds Banking surged 1.65%.
On the downside, Kingfisher tumbled 1.46% after Europe’s largest home-improvement retailer said same-store sales in the U.K. and Ireland dropped 3.8%, more than analysts' estimates.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.59% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.65% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.80% increase.
Also Thursday, Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the number of unemployed people rose by a seasonally adjusted 5,000 in November, compared to expectations for an increase of 15,000.
Germany’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.9% in November, in line with expectations and unchanged from October.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release preliminary data on third quarter growth as well as the weekly government report on jobless claims.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 jumped 1.11%, France’s CAC 40 rallied 1.03%, while Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 0.82%.
Sentiment found support after U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, on Wednesday voiced optimism that Republicans could broker a deal with the White House to avert a fiscal crisis, while President Barack Obama said he hoped to reach an agreement with Congress before Christmas.
Investors fear the planned tax increases and spending cuts, due to start on January 1 and totalling about USD600 billion, could push the world's biggest economy into recession and weigh on the global economic outlook.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid lingering concerns over Greece’s latest aid package, agreed on by officials from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund earlier this week.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale climbed 1.21% and 1.40%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank advanced 1.53% and 0.96% respectively.
Peripheral lenders also posted sharp gains, led by Spain's BBVA, up 2.19%, and closely followed by Banco Santander, whose shares jumped 2.14%, while Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit rallied 1.84% and 1.80%
Elsewhere, Zurich Insurance Group gained 1.57% after Chief Executive Officer Martin Senn said that he expects "significant additional efficiencies" from the company’s actions in 2012, which include cost cuts of USD200 million so far this year.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 climbed 0.83%, boosted by gains in oil and mining stocks, while data showed that U.K. house prices were flat in November.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton trended sharply higher, with shares jumping 3.27% and 1.84%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys surged 1.52% and 3.10% respectively.
Oil and gas major Anglo American was also on the upside, advancing 1.90%, while rival BP rose 0.33%.
The financial sector added to gains, as HSBC Holdings added 0.95% and Barclays climbed 1.49%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland rallied 1.65% and Lloyds Banking surged 1.65%.
On the downside, Kingfisher tumbled 1.46% after Europe’s largest home-improvement retailer said same-store sales in the U.K. and Ireland dropped 3.8%, more than analysts' estimates.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.59% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.65% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.80% increase.
Also Thursday, Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the number of unemployed people rose by a seasonally adjusted 5,000 in November, compared to expectations for an increase of 15,000.
Germany’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.9% in November, in line with expectations and unchanged from October.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release preliminary data on third quarter growth as well as the weekly government report on jobless claims.