European stocks were broadly higher on Thursday as investors welcomed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s pledge to continue its easy-money policies.
Market participants await the Bank of England’s policy meeting later in the day against an improving backdrop.
The central bank is likely to keep rates on hold, but may emphasize its high bar for tightening monetary policy.
The pan European Stoxx 600 rose 0.3 percent to 426.13 after declining half a percent on Wednesday.
The German DAX climbed 0.8 percent, while France’s CAC 40 index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 were up around 0.1 percent.
In stock-specific news, Ocado lost 2.7 percent despite the online grocer reporting a 40 percent surge in sales in the last three months.
Vectura Group jumped 3.4 percent. The pharmaceutical company said it will pay a special dividend of £115mln during 2021 after receiving a big payout from GlaxoSmithKline over a US patent litigation.
Public transport company National Express declined 2.4 percent after it swung to a pretax loss for 2020 on lower revenue.
Volkswagen climbed 3 percent on reports that the Czech government is negotiating with the carmaker on construction of one of its electric car batteries plants in Czechia.
Patrizia AG, a partner for global real assets, advanced 1.6 percent. The company said assets under management were 47.0 billion euros in the fiscal year 2020, an increase of 5.7 percent year-over-year.
Life science group Sartorius soared nearly 9 percent after raising its FY21 outlook.
Market Analysis
European Shares Inch Higher Ahead Of BoE Decision
2021-03-18 09:34:32
