European stock markets rise, driven by Wall Street

The main European stock markets closed this Thursday with general gains, and with historical highs in the case of Paris and Frankfurt, driven by Wall Street and good business results, among which those of the technology giant Nvidia stand out.

During the session, the minutes of the January meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) and relevant macroeconomic data for the markets were published, such as the PMI activity indicators for February in the eurozone, Germany, France and the United Kingdom; in addition to January inflation in the euro zone

The parks that gained the most were Frankfurt (1.47%) and Paris (1.27%), which achieved new historical highs, followed by Milan, which advanced 1.06%, Madrid, 0.31% and London, 0.29%.

The Eurostoxx 50, an index in which the largest capitalization companies in the euro area are listed, rose 1.68%.

This Thursday the minutes of the ECB meeting last January were published, in which it was learned that the members of the Governing Council unanimously approved maintaining interest rates at 4.5% and considered with a broad consensus that it was premature Discuss possible downgrades at the meeting.

During the session, the PMI indices of the manufacturing sector of the eurozone, Germany and the United Kingdom were also published, which fell, and that of France, which rose.

Inflation in the eurozone fell one tenth in January, to 2.8% year-on-year.

In the United States, Wall Street began the day with gains and, at the close of the European stock markets, the Dow Jones rose 0.72%; the S&P 500, 1.66%; and the Nasdaq, 2.44%.

Investors have been awaiting the results of the American processor manufacturer Nvidia, which multiplied its net profit by six in 2023 thanks to the advance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which boosted markets around the world.

In addition, it was learned that the US manufacturing PMI rose in February, while new applications for unemployment benefits decreased by 12,000 requests during the past week.

In Asia, the Nikkei in Tokyo surpassed the psychological barrier of 39,000 points (an increase of 2.19%) and reached its all-time high. The CSI 300 – which includes the most listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen indices – gained 1.79% and the Kospi 0.41%; while the Hang Seng fell 0.79%.

In the raw materials market, a barrel of Brent, the benchmark oil in Europe, rose 0.34% at the close of European markets and cost $83.31.

The Troy ounce of gold depreciated 0.2% to $2,021.84.

The euro fell 0.02% and was trading at $1.081.

Bitcoin, the main cryptocurrency, advanced 0.22% to $51,500.

In the debt market, the German bond yield fell 0.7 basis points and stood at 2.438%.