Europe open: Shares jump on dovish Powell comments

European stocks made a bright start to trade on Thursday as investors responded positively to US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments that the pace of monetary tightening could slow from next month.

Powell on Wednesday said the Fed could start scaling back the pace of rate rises "as soon as December", but warned that the battle to stymie soaring inflation was not over.

Markets in Asia rallied overnight after a report China could allow some people who test positive for Covid to quarantine at home, as the Beijing leadership looks to stop rising protests from citizens angry about the country’s strict zero-tolerance pandemic restrictions. Investors also shrugged off weak China PMI data.

In Europe, the pan-regional Stoxx 600 was up 0.91% at 0830 GMT. Eurozone yields fell on the news as well, with Germany's 10-year yield, the benchmark for the single currency bloc, down 8 basis points (bps) to 1.866%.

German retail sales fell a more-than-expected 2.8% in October compared with the previous month, according to official data.

In equity news, Dutch food group Corbion gained after its investors day presentation.

Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB fell more than 5% after JPMorgan cut its target price for the stock.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com