Europe open: Shares up sharply on upbeat Fed assessment
European shares opened sharply higher on Thursday after an upbeat assessment of the US economy from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell which helped Wall Street to rally overnight.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 1.43% in early deals with investors eyeing rate decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
Powell indicated overnight that the Fed would move on interest rates to keep inflation in check and flagged an end to its pandemic bond-buying programme. European central banks will have to factor in risks from the Omicron Covid variant, particularly in the UK where cases are soaring and inflation is surging.
In equity news, Swiss drugs company Novartis gained after launching a new share buyback of up to $15bn to be executed by the end of 2023.
Airbus rose after Australia's Qantas Airways chose the European aircraft maker as the preferred supplier to replace its domestic fleet, switching from Boeing.
Shares in EDF fell more than 9% at after the French power giant cut its 2021 core profit guidance after the discovery of faults in a safety system at the Civaux nuclear power station.
The company also said late on Wednesday it had shut down another plant because it used the same kind of reactors.