Stock indices of Western European countries are changing weakly and in different directions on Thursday, as market participants took a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the results of the September meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB).
The composite index of the largest companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 region increased by 0.05% by 11:28 Moscow time and amounted to 412.24 points.
The German DAX fell 0.06%, the French CAC 40 rose 0.1%, and the British FTSE 100 rose 0.25%. The Italian FTSE MIB and the Spanish IBEX 35 lost 0.3% and 0.45% respectively.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to raise key interest rates following the results of the September meeting immediately by 75 basis points (bp). The results of the meeting will be announced at 15:15 Moscow time on Thursday.
Hawkish statements from board members and a sharper-than-expected rise in inflation support such a substantial increase,” said Guprit Gill, Goldman’s global fixed income strategist.
Shares of British cybersecurity developer Darktrace plunge 31%. Darktrace reported a return to pre-tax profits in fiscal 2022 and almost doubled its revenue, but confirmed that negotiations with investment company Thoma Bravo on a possible sale of the company were terminated.
Melrose Industries PLC is down 2.3%. The British engineering company increased its pre-tax loss in the last financial half to 358 million pounds from 275 million pounds a year earlier.
Restaurant Group PLC shares rose 2.1%. The British company significantly reduced its pre-tax loss in January-June on the back of strong revenue growth.
Capitalization of the retailer Associated British Foods PLC falls by 7.1%. The company forecast sales growth for the fiscal year ending September 17 to be around 40%, but warned that adjusted earnings could shrink in the next fiscal year.
The market value of Finnish paper maker Stora Enso rose 2.8%. The company announced the purchase of the Dutch manufacturer of cardboard packaging De Jong Packaging Group for 1.02 billion euros.
French retailer Carrefour and bank Societe Generale are up 2% and 1.4% respectively.
The growth leader in the Stoxx 600 index is the paper of the British Genus Plc, working in the field of genetic breeding of animals – they rise in price by more than 13% on data on revenue growth in the past fiscal year.
The decline leaders in the indicator are the shares of the French IT company Atos SE, falling almost 15% for no apparent reason.
