The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.68 percent; travel and leisure companies went up 3.19 percent; moreover, technology was down 0.46 percent.
The ECB maintained its monetary policy but confirmed that it would stop buying bonds in the third quarter. The ECB is likely to begin raising interest rates, following the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve of the United States. According to Gurpreet Gill, macro strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, the next step in the ECB’s policy normalization program will be a decision on the pace of asset purchases next quarter; it will likely be the focus of the central bank’s July meeting. The individual share price change at Hungary’s Wizz Air was 8.4 percent. After the Benetton family and the US investment firm Blackstone submitted an offer for the Italian road and rail company, Atlantia rose 4.3 percent.
Ericsson, a Swedish telecoms company, fell 8.2 percent after warning that it will most likely be penalized by US regulators for its handling of a bribery investigation in Iraq. Following its pullout from Russia, the corporation also reported a drop in quarterly earnings.
European investors are likewise keeping a close eye on the conflict in Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers attacked and damaged a Russian missile cruiser in the Black Sea early Thursday; it forced the whole crew to escape.
Following an hour-long phone chat with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Joe Biden pledged another $800 million in weaponry for Ukraine on Wednesday.
Asia-Pacific shares were higher as investors reacted to monetary policy tightening statements from South Korea and Singapore.
Stock futures in the United States were neutral in early premarket trade ahead of earnings reports from the country’s top banks; these include Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup.
JPMorgan Chase reported a steep drop in first-quarter profit compared to last year, owing to higher bad credit expenses and market instability induced by the Ukraine crisis.
