European Shares Inch Higher On Rate Cut Hopes

(RTTNews) - European stocks were broadly higher on Friday after strong U.S. GDP data boosted hopes of a soft landing for the world's largest economy and paved the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates soon.

Earlier this week, a former Fed hawk said waiting for September to cut rates "unnecessarily increases the risk" of recession.

U.S. June PCE data will be in focus later today, heading into next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.4 percent to 510.73 after closing 0.7 percent lower on Thursday.

The German DAX was marginally higher, giving up early gains.

France's CAC 40 climbed 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent. Italian oil major ENI gained 2.8 percent after its Q2 profit beat forecasts.

Ams OSRAM soared 17 percent after the sensor maker's quarterly net loss came in better than expected.

British lender NatWest jumped 7 percent after lifting its full-year revenue forecast.

Defense and aerospace group Babcock International surged 5.3 percent after reporting strong FY24 results.

Hermes International rallied nearly 4 percent in Paris. The Birkin-bag maker reported a 13 percent rise in second-quarter sales, defying the luxury downturn.

Eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica surged 7.4 percent after reporting strong financial performance for the first half of 2024.

Construction-to-telecom group Bouygues dropped 1 percent despite delivering better-than-expected core profit for the first half of the year.

Capgemini shares slumped 11 percent. The IT consulting group expects its annual revenue to fall between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent, compared with the earlier expectation of 0-3 percent rise.

German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz was moving lower in volatile trade after trimming its 2024 profit outlook for its core car division.