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European stock markets trended higher, with investor pessimism about inflation and potential interest rate hikes tempered by corporate earnings reports which indicated consumer demand remained strong.
The European Stoxx 600 stock index rose 0.7% early in Thursday, remaining around 3% below its all-time high in early September. London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.7%.
The moves came after Taiwanese chip provider TSMC, whose products are used in everything from iPhones to cars, posted a 14% better-than-expected profit increase for the third quarter, compared to the same period. Last year.
Consumer prices in the United States rose 5.4% year-on-year in September, marking the fifth consecutive month of annual increases of 5% or more, according to data released Wednesday.
The minutes of the last meeting of the US central bank showed that its policymakers were ready, as early as next month, to start cutting its $ 120 billion in monthly bond purchases that eased financial conditions during the pandemic.
Investors had spent much of the past few weeks positioning themselves for such a signal, as well as the latest explosion in US inflation, however. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bill, which moves in the opposite direction to its price, was stable Thursday morning at 1.549%.
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, slipped 1.1% to $ 82.5 a barrel after hitting its last three-year high of $ 83.7 this week.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six others, fell 0.2% after hitting its highest level in a year on Wednesday.
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