Instant view: European shares sail to record high
LONDON (Reuters) — European shares rose to a record high on Thursday, lifted by a rally in global stocks that also saw Japan's blue-chip Nikkei index hit an all-time high.
Europe's broad STOXX 600 index rose to 495.81 points, surpassing the 495.46 reached in Jan. 2022, as unexpectedly strong revenue forecasts from U.S. chip giant Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) lifted sentiment around the world.
The STOXX 600 index was last up around 0.5% on the day.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei rose to a record high earlier on Thursday.
SAMY CHAAR, CHIEF ECONOMIST, LOMBARD ODIER, GENEVA:
«The share rally is a global a phenomenon but Europe is part of it. When you think about the improvement in the growth picture, and the stabilization of some sectors or economies it’s not like we’ve got the situation last year with U.S. exceptionalism and the rest doing poorly, actually we are seeing a bottoming process everywhere.»
«Germany might be an exception, but the rest of Europe is recovering.»
ANEEKA GUPTA, EQUITY ANALYST, WISDOMTREE, LONDON:
«The economic data is so much weaker in the euro zone compared to the U.S. and we’re hitting all-time highs. We’re seeing a bit of a discrepancy. I think it really boils down to a lot more positive sentiment after Nvidia’s earnings… and that optimism is being reflected in European markets.»
«A combination of inflation making quite a bit of progress given the monetary tightening (and) the expectations of the ECB cutting ahead of the Fed, going as early as April, is really helping equity market sentiment at this moment in time.»
«I think we’ve reached a point where there is room for correction in equity markets. What is going to trigger that correction is very hard to determine. What could keep the rally going is just the
Read more on investing.com
