10th Oct 2013 10:53
PARIS (Alliance News) - The European markets are trading higher on Thursday, amid hopes of a short-term increase in the debt ceiling, ahead of the monetary policy announcement from the Bank of England.
House Republican leaders are said to be considering a short-term increase in the US debt limit to help avert a government debt default. President Barack Obama indicated that he is ready to accept a short term debt limit deal without policy conditions.
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's September 17-18 meeting revealed that concerns about a government shutdown kept the Federal Reserve from scaling back its monetary stimulus last month. Still, the minutes show most Fed members expect the economy will be strong enough to begin winding down QE3 this year and ending it completely by the middle of 2014.
Closer home, French industrial production increased for the first time in four months in August, data from statistical office Insee showed. Output increased 0.2% month-on-month in August following a 0.6% decline in July. Economists had forecast a 0.6% increase.
At 7.00 am ET, the Bank of England is set to announce the results of the two-day rate-setting meeting. The bank is expected to maintain its key bank rate at 0.50% and asset purchase programme unchanged at 375 billion pounds.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is gaining 1.60%, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major UK companies, is rising 1.07%.
The DAX of Germany is gaining 1.3% while the French CAC 40 is rising 1.5%. The FTSE 100 of the UK is rising 1% and Switzerland's SMI is advancing 0.8%.
In Frankfurt, Commerzbank is gaining 4.4% and Deutsche Bank is rising 1.2%.
Volkswagen and BMW are adding 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively. Suedzucker is climbing 1.8%, after announcing financial results.
Semiconductor firm Aixtron is adding 1%, despite a broker downgrade at HSBC.
ProSiebenSat.1 Media is climbing 3.5%. HSBC raised the stock to ''Overweight'' from ''Neutral.''
In Paris, Renault is gaining 4.6% and Peugeot is gaining 1.8%.
Axa is up 4%. Macquarie upgraded the stock to ''Outperform'' from ''Neutral.''
Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are gaining between 3.8% and 3.2%.
UBS cut Lafarge to ''Neutral'' from ''Buy.'' However, the stock is gaining 1.6%.
In London, GKN is gaining 3.6%. The engineering group appointed Adam Walker to succeed Bill Seeger as Group Finance Director on February 26, 2014.
Whitbread is gaining 3.4% and Persimmon is climbing 3.2%.
WH Smith is gaining close to 5%. The retailer reported a higher annual profit and announced increased dividend as well as a share buyback program for additional 50 million pounds.
Defence and security firm BAE Systems said its outlook for full-year 2013 remains unchanged. The stock is up 1.5%.
Givaudan is losing 1.8% in Zurich after reporting a slide in third-quarter sales.
Asian markets had a mixed outing, amid worries about the US
In the US, futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks ended mixed, amid continued concerns about the ongoing government shutdown and the budget ceiling. The Dow and the S&P 500 posted modest gains, while the Nasdaq slid half a percent to its lowest level in a month.
In the commodity space, crude for November delivery is adding $0.42 to $102.03 per barrel, while December gold is losing $8.1 to $1299.6 a troy ounce.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX