By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets traded higher Thursday, with the banking sector in focus after the Federal Reserve announced the winding down of its bond-buying program and ahead of the Bank of England’s policy-setting meeting.
At 3:55 AM ET (0855 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.3% higher, after opening at a record high, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.3% and the CAC 40 in France rose 0.4%, building on Wednesday’s record close.
The U.S. central bank announced plans late Wednesday to start trimming its monthly bond purchases in November, potentially ending the program in 2022, judging the U.S. economy sufficiently recovered from the pandemic to begin withdrawing its monetary support.
This move had been widely expected, and importantly the Fed policy makers maintained their stance that high inflation would prove "transitory" and likely not require an early rise in interest rates.
That may prove to be a contrast with the Bank of England, which has been more frank about being under pressure to raise interest rates to defend its credibility.
In corporate news, Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) stock fell 0.1% after the Swiss bank announced plans to pare back its investment bank after posting a 21% fall in third quarter profit.
By contrast, Societe Generale (OTC:SCGLY) stock rose 2.8% after the French bank posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and launched a share buyback program of around 470 million euros. Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) stock gained over 4% after the German lender recorded a better-than-expected third-quarter net profit and forecast a profit for the full year, and ING (AS:INGA) stock gained 1.1% after the Dutch bank impressed in the third quarter.
Elsewhere, Deutsche Post (OTC:DPSGY) stock rose 3.1% after the delivery firm increased its full-year operating profit forecast once more as global trade recovers, while HeidelbergCement (DE:HEIG) stock dropped 3.1% after the world's No. 2 cement maker reported a 11% drop in core profit on the back of higher energy costs.
Novartis (SIX:NOVN) stock rose 1.5% after it announced plans to sell its one-third voting stake in fellow drug-maker Roche (SIX:RO), up 1.9%, back to its cross-town rival for $20.7 billion.
In economic news, the main release will be the final purchasing manager’s index composite data for the Eurozone in October. German manufacturing orders managed only a weak 1.3% rebound from their August slump, which was revised down even further to -8.8%.
Crude prices gained Thursday, rebounding after recent losses ahead of the latest OPEC+ meeting.
Weekly crude inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday pressured the market, along with the news that Iran and world powers have agreed to resume nuclear talks later this month. But the focus Thursday is on the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies including Russia, a group called OPEC+, later in the session to discuss overall production levels. The group is expected to reconfirm a monthly increase of 400,000 barrels a day.
By 3:55 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% higher at $81.31 a barrel, after closing Wednesday at their lowest level since Oct. 13, while the Brent contract fell 1.1% to $82.91, having closed at their lowest level since Oct. 7.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,777.40/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.5% lower at 1.1551.