European Markets Rebounded Ahead Of Fed Announcement

(RTTNews) - The European markets finished solidly to the upside Wednesday, following the weak performance of the previous two trading sessions. Energy stocks were among the best performers, due to rising crude oil prices.

Investors are eagerly anticipating the announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve later today. The Fed is widely expected to hold off on raising interest rates. However, traders will be watching for any signals regarding a rate hike in December.

Sweden's central bank held its key interest rate unchanged and boosted its asset purchases on Wednesday, making its policy more expansionary as it prepares for a possible December expansion of the European Central Bank's stimulus.

The Riksbank left its benchmark, the repo rate, unchanged at -0.35 percent for a second straight session. The move was in line with economists' expectations. The bank last lowered the repo in July, when it cut the rate from -0.25 percent.

Lowering its interest rate path, the bank said an initial raise in the repo rate will be deferred by approximately six months compared with the previous assessment.

The Executive Board also decided to extend the government bond purchasing programme by an additional SEK 65 billion. Purchases will total SEK 200 billion by the end of June 2016.

After leaving rates and the size of asset purchases unchanged, ECB President Mario Draghi strongly hinted that the bank may boost its stimulus in December as policymakers are increasingly concerned over the persistence of negative inflation.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 1.19 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 1.20 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 1.31 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.90 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. gained 1.14 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.93 percent.

In Frankfurt, Volkswagen climbed 3.80 percent, even as the automaker posted its first quarterly loss in 15 years. The company said it is still committed to diesel engines despite the problems of its emissions cheating scandal.

Linde rose 2.13 percent. The company reported that operating profit for first nine months of 2015 improved by 8.2 percent. But, after adjusting for exchange rate effects, operating profit fell slightly by 0.7 percent. It confirmed its 2015 outlook.

In Paris, Technip gained 3.68 percent and Total added 1.05 percent.

In London, Meggitt plunged 20.46 percent after it reported that its trading during the third quarter was below expectations, due to a marked deterioration in September.

Royal Dutch Shell rose 1.67 percent. The oil giant said that the 80,000 barrel per day Carmon Creek thermal in situ project located in Alberta, Canada does not rank in its portfolio at this time.

BT Group advanced 3.65 percent, after its acquisition of EE was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority.

British American Tobacco gained 2.62 percent, after its revenues grew 4.2 percent.

Lloyds Banking Group tumbled 4.26 percent after its underlying profit fell eight percent.

Antofagasta dropped 1.47 percent, after its copper production for the first nine months of the year at 460,400 tonnes was 11.0% lower than in the same period last year.

Brewer Heineken increased 3.98 percent in Amsterdam after its third-quarter sales beat estimates.

German consumer confidence is set to weaken for a third straight month in November to its lowest level since early this year as economic expectations deteriorated as the huge influx of migrants raised fears of unemployment.

The forward-looking GfK consumer confidence index for November dropped to 9.4 from 9.6 in October, results of the monthly survey by the GfK showed Wednesday. The score was in line with economists' expectations. The latest reading was the lowest since February.

Germany's import prices declined at a faster-than-expected pace in September, figures from Destatis showed Wednesday. The import price index slid 4.0 percent year-over-year in September, exceeding economists' expectations for a 3.5 percent decrease. In August, prices had fallen 3.1 percent.

French consumer confidence weakened unexpectedly in October, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed Wednesday. The consumer confidence index dropped to 96.0 in October from September's almost 8-year high of 97.0. Economists had expected the index to remain stable at 97.0.

England/Wales house price growth accelerated in September to the highest level in six months, figures from Land Registry showed Wednesday. House prices climbed 5.3 percent year-over-year in September, faster than August's 21-month low of 4.3 percent hike. In July, prices had risen 4.5 percent.

China's consumer sentiment decreased markedly to a record low in October, results of a survey by MNI and Westpac showed Wednesday. The Westpac-MNI consumer sentiment index fell to 109.7 in October from 118.2 in September, marking the weakest reading since the survey began in 2007.