On Wednesday (December 11), European markets closed slightly higher as investors' sentiment was buoyed by U.S. inflation data. The data showed that the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose steadily in November, in line with market expectations. This result reinforced the expectation of a 25 basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at next week's policy meeting, with swap traders nearly fully pricing in this possibility. This encouraged global markets, and major European stock indices performed positively.
All three major European indices posted modest gains. Germany's DAX index rose 0.34% to close at 20,399.16 points; France's CAC40 index increased by 0.39% to 7,423.40 points; and the UK's FTSE 100 index edged up 0.26% to close at 8,301.62 points. Additionally, the Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.3%, led by the media sector.
Among individual stocks, Publicis Groupe SA and RTL Group SA performed exceptionally after JPMorgan upgraded both stocks to "overweight." However, the retail sector weighed on overall performance, with shares of Spanish retail giant Inditex SA falling after reporting a slowdown in sales growth ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Market analysts pointed out that U.S. inflation data was the main driver for the rise in European stocks. The stable growth in CPI data provided further support for the Federal Reserve's expected rate cut next week, boosting investor confidence globally.
Although European market gains were limited, market sentiment tended towards optimism. Analysts believe that the expectation of global central bank easing policies will continue to support stock market performance, especially the potential ripple effects of a Federal Reserve rate cut. In the coming days, investors will closely watch the Fed's policy statement and other economic data to assess the market's long-term trend.
