European stock markets rise after the ECB’s new interest rate hike

The main European stock markets closed this Thursday with strong increases, mostly above 1%, after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced a new increase in its interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.5%.

London gained 1.95%; Milan, 1.37%; Madrid, 1.33%; Paris, 1.19%; Frankfurt, 0.97%; and the Euro Stoxx 50 index, which groups the main listed companies, 1.33%, according to market data consulted by EFE.

The stock markets started down, except for London, although after the mid-session, after it was announced that the ECB had raised interest rates again, the markets turned towards the bullish path and maintained this trend for the rest of the session, driven by Wall Street. that opened higher.

Investors were attentive to the ECB meeting, in which it decided to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.5%, as well as the credit facility, to 4.75%, and the deposit facility, up to 4%.

Thus, the organization prioritized stopping inflation despite the economic stagnation shown by meters such as the downward revision of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter of the euro zone or the fall in German industrial production in August.

The ECB also lowered its forecasts for economic growth in the euro area in 2023 by two tenths, to 0.7%, while it raised its estimate of average inflation this year by two tenths, to 5.6%.

In the United States, it was learned that both the retail sales indicator and the industrial price index, both in August, increased more than experts expected.

In addition, the weekly data on new requests for unemployment benefits in the country was published, which grew for the fifth consecutive week.

At the close of the European stock markets, Brent oil, the benchmark in the Old Continent, rose 93.53%, to 1.8 dollars per barrel, and the euro depreciated 0.59%, to 1.0667 dollars after the ECB decision.

In the debt market, the ten-year German bond, considered the safest in Europe, closed with a yield of 2.588%, 5.8 basis points less than the day before.