Europe close: Stocks rise despite hawkish central banks
European shares held gains on Wednesday, as positive US economic data from the day before offset hawkish remarks from top central bank officials on either side of the Atlantic.
Speaking at the ECB's semi-annual policy forum in Sintra, Portugal, Fed chief Jerome Powell said he would not rule out the possibility of rate hikes at consecutive meetings over what remained of 2023.
And for her part, ECB president Christine Lagarde said the monetary authority was not considering a pause in rate hikes at the moment.
"We know we have ground to cover," she added.
The Fed chairman seems determined to restate the Fed’s hawkish attitude at every opportunity, but other central bankers today have been more circumspect, giving room for European indices to rally.”
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.70% at 456.05.
Germany's Dax added 0.64% to 15,949.0 while the FTSE Mib put on 0.86% to 27,637.46.
"The Fed chairman seems determined to restate the Fed’s hawkish attitude at every opportunity, but other central bankers today have been more circumspect, giving room for European indices to rally," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
Europe's single currency was down 0.47% to 1.910 and front-dated Brent was up by 1.5% to $73.75 a barrel on the ICE.
As of Wednesday's close, Fed funds futures were discounting more than 84% odds of a 25 basis point rate hike at the next Fed policy meeting on 26 July.
In other economic news, consultancy GfK's consumer confidence index for Germany slipped rrom a reading of -24.4 in June to -25.4 for July (consensus: -23.0).
According to the ECB, the annual rate of increase in the euro area's M3 money supply slowed from 1.9% in April to 1.4% for May (consensus: 1.5%).
The drop in M1 growth meanwhile accelerated from -5.2% to -6.4%, something that Claus Vistesen at Pantheon Macroeconomics described as an "ominous signal for [eurozone] GDP growth".
French supermarket chain Carrefour gained 3.3% after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an ‘overweight’ rating.
Ocado shares were sharply lower a day after surging on takeover speculation and news that a fund backed by Italy's Agnelli family had taken a stake in the online grocer and warehouse technology company.