Europe open: Stocks rally as miners enjoy copper price surge
European stocks rallied strongly at the opening on Wednesday, as a commodity price boost for miners offset the tech sell-off on Wall Street overnight.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.96% in early trading, with the German DAX outperforming, up 1.11%.
US markets had fallen overnight as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said "interest rates have to rise somewhat" to prevent the post-covid economy from overheating.
"A statement, obviously, that didn’t go down well with investors, who were already fretting over the impact of the ongoing chip shortage on tech and car stocks," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
"Such was the reaction that the former Fed chair issued a correction, of sorts, assuring the markets that a rate hike is neither something she is ‘predicting or recommending’."
"If Europe’s open is anything to go by, that has been enough to put the issue to bed – for now, anyway."
Shares in major mining firms including Rio Tinto, BHP and Anglo American were all higher as copper prices moved beyond $10,000 a tonne, the highest level in a decade, on higher demand and lower inventories.
Car maker Stellantis edged up 0.8% as the company reported a better-than-expected quarterly revenue but warned that a global shortage of semiconductors would affect production in the current quarter.
German fashion house Hugo Boss rose 2.9% as it saw first-quarter sales almost double in mainland China, and its casual business returned to growth.
Danish facilities management firm ISS rose more than 5% as demand for its cleaning services during the pandemic helped an improved quarterly performance.