BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks moved modestly higher during trading on Thursday as the minutes of the European Central Bank's July meeting suggested policymakers are keen to explore the option of reducing interest rates at the monetary policy meeting in September.
'The September meeting was widely seen as a good time to re-evaluate the level of monetary policy restriction,' the minutes said. 'That meeting should be approached with an open mind, which also implied that data dependence was not equivalent to being overly focused on specific, single data points.'
A survey showing the Eurozone manufacturing PMI fell from 45.8 to an 8-month low of 45.6 in August, also reinforced investor bets on a September ECB rate cut.
Overall business activity showed surprising strength in August, as a strong rebound in the bloc's dominant services industry offset a deeper downturn among manufacturers.
Elsewhere, Britain's private sector companies reported their strongest growth in four months alongside cooling price pressures.
The pan European STOXX 600 climbed 0.4 percent to 515.74 after rising 0.3 percent on Wednesday.
The German DAX Index also rose by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.
In corporate news, JD Sports Fashion soared by 10.7 percent. The British sportswear retailer reported an improvement in second-quarter underlying sales, driven by surging revenues in the U.S. and Europe.
German ticketing group CTS Eventim also spiked by 5.8 percent after upgrading its full-year earnings outlook.
Swiss Re also surged by 4.5 percent after the reinsurer reported higher profit in its first half and reiterated guidance for the full year.
Lender Deutsche Bank also jumped by 4.0 percent after settling with over 80 plaintiffs in the Postbank AG litigation.
Recruiter Hays also advanced by 1.9 percent despite its full-year pre-tax profit plunging 91 percent as a result of 'increasingly challenging' market conditions.
Meanwhile, Aegon NV slumped by 5.4 percent after the Dutch insurer reported a drop in its key operating profit and cash generation metrics.
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