European stocks rise as oil drops from earlier highs
Germany’s DAX added 1.33% to 24,272.32, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.53% to 8,114.84, and London’s FTSE 100 added 1.62% to 10,378.82
European stocks rallied on Thursday as oil prices dropped from earlier highs, while investors also digested eurozone GDP and inflation figures, central bank decisions and a busy day of corporate earnings.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 advanced 1.3% to 610.78.
Germany’s DAX added 1.33% to 24,272.32, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.53% to 8,114.84, and London’s FTSE 100 added 1.62% to 10,378.82.
In commodities, Brent crude futures were last down 3.22% on ICE at $114.23 per barrel.
By the time London markets shut up shop for the day, the oil price had slipped back significantly from those four-year highs that greeted investors this morning, said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
Whilst $114 for a barrel of Brent crude is still uncomfortably high, it’s another example of how volatile markets are at this time of global upheaval, she said.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: The FTSE 100 Is enjoying its best day in a month, rallying sharply as bargain-hunters pile into Rolls Royce following its numbers this morning.
He said: After a mixed start to the year, the aerospace giant seems to have found its footing, and has provided the foundation for a FTSE 100 rally that has left its European peers far behind.
In interest rate news, the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged, as expected, holding the deposit rate at 2%, the main refinancing rate at 2.15% and the marginal lending facility at 2.40%.
The ECB said incoming information had been broadly consistent with its previous inflation assessment, but warned that upside risks to inflation and downside risks to growth had intensified because of the Middle East war.
The longer the war continues and the longer energy prices remain high, the stronger is the likely impact on broader inflation and the economy, it said.
In economic news, eurozone inflation rose to its highest level in two and a half years in April, while growth slowed in the first quarter.
Eurostat said consumer price inflation rose to 3.0% from 2.6% in March, slightly ahead of expectations for 2.9%, as energy prices surged 10.9% year-on-year amid disruption to oil trade.
Core inflation dropped to 2.2% from 2.3%.
Eurozone GDP meanwhile expanded by 0.1% in the first quarter, slowing from 0.2% in the fourth quarter, while annual growth eased to 0.8% from 1.2%, below expectations for 0.9% and the weakest expansion since the second quarter of 2024.