Europe midday: Shares surge on Fed cut signal as BoE holds rates again

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 1.5% to 479 with all major bourses on the rise. In the US, the Dow Jones index closed at a record high as the Fed said it expected to cut rates three times next year after holding its benchmark steady in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%.

In London, the Bank of England left rates unchanged at 5.25% as widely expected. Investors now await the European Central Bank for its decision - also tipped to a 'hold'.

BoE policymakers were split on the decision, with three members of its Monetary Policy Committee pushing for a 25 basis point rise to 5.5%.

The MPC also warned that policy would need to be "sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long" to return inflation to its 2% target sustainably in the medium term.

"As illustrated by the November Monetary Policy Report projections, the Committee continues to judge that monetary policy is likely to need to be restrictive for an extended period of time. Further tightening in monetary policy would be required if there were evidence of more persistent inflationary pressures."

In equity news, AMS-Osram soared more than 10% after Jefferies upgraded the Austrian electronics company’s stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’.

Vivendi shares climbed 9% after the French media giant announced that it is considering breaking up into several listed entities.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com