BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks rose notably on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a less hawkish tone than feared in a question-and-answer session at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
Powell said that the disinflationary process has begun but it has a long way to go. The pan-European STOXX 600 climbed 0.9 percent to 462.07 after rising 0.2 percent the previous day.
The German DAX, France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were up between 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent.
Dutch lender ABN AMRO jumped 5.5 percent on share buyback news.
TotalEnergies SE, a French energy and petroleum firm, fell over 2 percent after reporting a decline in earnings for the fourth quarter.
Societe Generale shares fell about 1 percent. The lender reported that its fourth-quarter Group net income fell 35.1 percent to 1.16 billion euros from last year's 1.79 billion euros.
Smurfit Kappa tumbled 3.2 percent. The British packaging giant reported a rise in profit in 2022, but box volumes were down around 2 percent against a strong prior year. Housebuilder Barratt Developments added nearly 2 percent after raising its home completion guidance.
Transport operator FirstGroup soared 5.6 percent after it agreed to buy Ensign Bus Company Ltd. for an undisclosed sum.
Asset manager Ashmore gained 1 percent despite reporting sharply lower half-yearly profit.
German utility E. ON advanced 2 percent after saying it likely exceeded its own profit outlook in 2022.
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