European markets saw an upturn on Wednesday, as all eyes were on the upcoming interest rate decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Stoxx 600 index closed 0.7% higher, maintaining the positive momentum from earlier in the week, despite having endured its poorest monthly performance since September 2022.
Retail stocks saw a notable climb of 1.7%, buoyed by the news that U.K. clothing and homeware group Next had revised its profit outlook for the fourth time in just six months.
Conversely, shares of Aston Martin took a nosedive, plummeting by as much as 13%. This was in response to the luxury carmaker’s announcement of a quarterly loss that surpassed expectations, as well as a reduction in its volume target.
While expectations remain that central bankers will maintain steady rates, the CME FedWatch Tool indicates a probability exceeding 97% that rates will remain unchanged.
In earlier trading on Tuesday, European markets had shown an upward trend, backed by data revealing that euro zone inflation had dropped to a two-year low of 2.9% in October. This figure fell short of the 3.1% anticipated by economists polled by Reuters.
Simultaneously, the statistics agency Eurostat reported a contraction of 0.1% in the euro zone economy during the third quarter, below the anticipated stagnation.
These developments emerged following the European Central Bank’s decision to halt its record streak of 10 consecutive interest rate hikes at its last meeting.
