European stocks rose yesterday, on track for a third weekly gain as the Fed’s recent rate cut supported sentiment, though Wall Street futures pointed to some lingering caution after the previous session’s tech-stock selloff.
The Nasdaq fell on Thursday after cloud computing company Oracle flagged massive spending and weak forecasts, making investors wary of artificial intelligence bets. A warning about margins from chipmaker Broadcom added to the concerns.
The move had a limited impact on wider risk appetite on Thursday, as the S&P 500 and Dow still hit record highs. But yesterday, Wall Street futures were down during Asian trading and struggled to make gains during European trading.
The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, in a 9-3 split decision, leaving traders optimistic about more cuts in 2026, even though policymakers signalled that it will put further reductions on pause for now.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 per cent yesterday afternoon, having hit its highest in a month. The FTSE 100 was up 0.1pc, Germany’s DAX was up 0.2pc and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.5pc. The MSCI World Equity Index was up 0.2pc.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.2pc, while Nasdaq futures were down 0.6pc.
Ed Hutchings, head of the developed market rates desk at Aviva Investors, said traders may avoid making big moves yesterday as they brace for next week’s rate decisions from the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.
“It’s a bit of pause-for-thought post the Fed,” he added.
The BoE is expected to cut rates on Thursday. The ECB is expected to keep them steady, although traders are now speculating it could hike rates in 2026. The BoJ is expected to hike rates after strong signals from Governor Kazuo Ueda.
The US dollar was steady, with the dollar index up around 0.2pc on the day at 98.527.
Still, it was within reach of the previous session’s low, which was the lowest in nearly eight weeks, and on track for a third weekly decline in a row.
It has taken a hit from the Fed’s less-hawkish-than-expected outlook on rates, as well as US jobless claims data, which showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased by the most in nearly 4-1/2 years last week.
The euro was down 0.2pc at $1.1719 and sterling was down 0.2pc on the day at $1.3362, falling only slightly after data showing that Britain’s economy shrank by 0.1pc in the three months to December in the run-up to the UK budget.
Germany’s government bond yields rose, on track for their largest weekly rise since March, as traders started to price in a rise in euro zone rates following comments from influential ECB policymaker Isabel Schnabel earlier in the week. The 10-year Germany government bond yield was at 2.861pc.
Oil prices fell as traders worried about oversupply and a possible Russia-Ukraine peace deal. Concerns about disruptions to supply in Venezuela had supported oil prices earlier in the session, as the US prepares to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil.
Ukraine’s government bonds rallied after the country sent the United States a revised proposal for ending the war with Russia. Investors are also watching the progress of European Union proposals to use frozen Russian assets, many of which are held at Brussels-based financial institution Euroclear.
Leaders of the “Coalition of the Willing” group of nations said they discussed progress over the plan in a virtual meeting on Thursday. Russia’s central bank said yesterday the plan was illegal.
Copper hit a record high after China, a top copper-consumer, promised to maintain a “proactive” fiscal policy next year. Gold hit its highest in seven weeks, helped by dollar weakness.
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