Europe open: Shares rally ahead of Fed rate decision

European shares opened higher on Wednesday as the deluge of earnings continued and investors looked ahead to the US Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.5% in early deals with all major bourses higher. Market expectations are for 0.25% rise in US rates with investors looking for any hint from Fed chair Jerome Powell on any pause in rates.

‘’Caution is set to take centre stage ahead of the Fed’s interest rate decision later, as investors mull what’s ahead for the mighty US economy," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

"Worries have ratcheted up again that a maelstrom of problems are lurking within regional banks and that there could be another breakage as interest rates are set to be hiked again."

"The tide of concern is rising about the ailing health of regional US bank portfolios, with many sitting on large unrealised losses, at a time when deposit flight is all the rage. The ease of withdrawals in the digital age is causing increased nervousness, given the speed of banking collapses over the past two months."

In equity news, Danish jewelry maker Pandora reported sales growth of 1% in the first quarter, better than an analyst consensus of -1%, as its EBIT margin fell from 23% to 21.1%.

French bank BNP Paribas saw its profits more than double in the first quarter.

Pearson shares recovered slightly from Tuesday's slump on reports that artificial intelligence chatbots were posing a threat to education publishers.

UniCredit shares rose after the bank reported quarterly results and lifted annual targets.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com