Shares in Europe rose across the board on Friday as comments from a Federal Reserve official cemented the case for a US interest rate cut this month.
New York Fed President John Williams said on Thursday policymakers could not wait for economic disaster to hit before adding stimulus, reviving expectations of a deeper rate cut in July and sparking a rally in shares worldwide
Markets have fully priced in a 25 basis point cut by the Fed this month, but a batch of strong US data recently had dimmed hopes of an aggressive cut and weakened the positive global mood that has driven stock markets higher since May.
The pan-European stocks benchmark, which hit a 3-week low on Thursday, rose 0.7 per cent by 0819 GMT, reports Reuters.
Belgium-based Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) jumped 5.2 per cent.
The oil and gas sector .SXEP rose 0.8 per cent as crude prices gained on the back of the latest signs of tension between the United and States and Iran.
Trade sensitive stocks also got a lift after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested in-person talks between US and Chinese officials could follow after telephone conversations on Thursday.
Auto stocks .SXAP surged more than 1.0 per cent with BMW (BMWG.DE) shares up 1.3 per cent after it named insider Oliver Zipse as the new chief executive.
That reflected hopes the “decisive” company lifer would help BMW regain its edge in electric cars and win back the premium market lead lost to Mercedes-Benz.
Media shares .SXMP were the only decliners among major sectors, down 0.2 per cent on Publicis’ (PUBP.PA) 6.8 per cent slide after the advertising group cut its 2019 revenue growth guidance.
