European Shares Mostly Higher As Riksbank Cuts Rates
(RTTNews) - European stocks were broadly higher on Tuesday, extending gains for a sixth consecutive session after the annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 2.6 percent in July, according to Eurostat's second estimate.
Overall gains remained limited as investors awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting and a speech from Chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole this week for additional clues on the possibility of a rate cut in the September policy meeting.
Meanwhile, Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, lowered its policy rate for the second time this year today, and indicated that more cuts could be forthcoming if the inflation outlook remains the same.
The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.1 percent at 515.27 after touching a three-week high in the previous session.
The German DAX edged up 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 added 0.3 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down half a percent.
ASML Holdings, ASM International and BE Semiconductor Industries jumped 2-3 percent after AMD announced plans to acquire server maker ZT Systems for $4.9bn.
Danish bank Jyske Bank was fluctuating after reporting its first-half results.
Energy giant BP Plc fell 1.8 percent and Shell lost 2.1 percent as crude oil prices hit two-week lows on growing hopes for Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Miner Antofagasta was marginally lower after pretax profit declined in line with market expectations in the first six months of the year.
Nordex rose about 1 percent after it received five turbine orders from Akfen Renewable Energy for a total of 102MW for several wind farm extensions in Turkey.