Latest News

European shares rise on Fed rate cut expectations; airline stocks fall

European shares rose on Thursday, as the markets were calmed by expectations that interest rates would be cut soon by the U.S. Federal Reserve. However, travel and leisure stocks dropped after British budget airline Jet2 announced a weak outlook.

At 0835 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 index edged up by 0.18% at 547.74. Travel and leisure dropped 1%, leading declines across sectors. TUI Germany fell 2.1% and Easyjet nearly 4%.

Jet2 shares have lost about a quarter after the British low cost airline predicted an operating profit for the full year that was at the lower end than expected.

Chris Beauchamp said that the outlook for travel is still uncertain, as consumers are likely to cut back on their spending due to the possibility of higher prices in Europe during the remainder of the year.

As dovish comments from Federal Reserve policymakers, and signs of weakness in the labor market, raised hopes for an early U.S. rate cut, concerns over debt-driven spending in developed countries, which returned this week, subsided.

Beauchamp stated that "with the yields calmed down again today, it's possible there is a feeling of this early autumn/late summer panic seeming to have subsided a bit."

The yields on longer-dated European bonds are still near multi-year highs. Next week, the focus will be France as it faces a possible collapse after pushing for a tightening of its budget in 2026. September has historically been a difficult month for the markets.

Sanofi fell nearly 10% from the top of the STOXX after late-stage data of its experimental inflammatory disease drug, amlitelimab, failed to meet market expectations.

The CAC 40 index in France fell 0.5%, while the broader healthcare sector declined by 0.2%.

Volvo Cars' shares fell 2.3% following the automaker's announcement

August Sales

CVC Capital, a private equity manager, lost 3.8% following its quarterly report.

First half

results.

Porsche fell 0.6%, as the luxury automaker's stock would be delegated to the German Mid-Caps Index following recent losses of its shares. The company was hurt by U.S. Import Tariffs and a weakening in demand in China, a key market.

Investors will focus on the weekly U.S. jobless claims report later that day, ahead of Friday's pivotal nonfarm payrolls for August. Reporting by Tristan Veyet, Gdansk; Johann M Cherian, Bengaluru. Editing by Niveditarjee Bhattacharjee & Saumyadeb Chkrabarty

(source: Reuters)