Photo of traders in Frankfurt
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are moving up sharply on Thursday at the start of the session as optimism prevails over an upcoming agreement on raising the debt ceiling in the United States.
In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.72% to 7,451.95 points around 07:37 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax advances by 1.07% while in London, the FTSE 100 takes 0.58%, hampered by the plunge of BT Group and Burberry.
The EuroStoxx 50 index is up 0.79%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.48% and the Stoxx 600 0.44%.
Wall Street ended up more than 1% on Wednesday night and Asia also ended in the green on Thursday as investors were reassured by statements from Democratic President Joe Biden and the Republican “speaker” of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, who reiterated their determination to reach an agreement on the American debt ceiling and avoid the specter of a default.
At values, BT plunges nearly 8%, after reporting annual cash flow at the lower end of the forecast range due to higher capital spending. The telecom operator has at the same time announced that it will cut 55,000 jobs by 2030.
The British luxury group Burberry is also sanctioned (-6.3%) despite the announcement of a 16% increase in same-store sales in the fourth quarter, driven by China. The management, however, considered the situation in the Americas region “difficult”, with a slowdown in activity.
In Paris, Trigano climbed 8% after the announcement of its first half results.
(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Nicolas Delame)