European Stocks Surge to Highest Levels Since July

By Pranav Kashyap and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

(Reuters) – The benchmark European stock index rose to its highest since July on Wednesday, boosted by insurance and chemical stocks ahead of closely-watched results from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and key economic data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.3% to 520.6 points. The chemicals sector led gains, up 1.4% to a more than two-month high, with Givaudan, Symrise AG, and Covestro all up over 3%.

Covestro notched its best day in more than two months after a report that ADNOC has completed due diligence on its planned bid for the company. Symrise and Covestro helped Germany’s DAX rise 0.5% to its highest since May.

The insurance sector also boosted the index, rising 1.2% after Belgium-based Ageas leapt 3.9% after its half-year net operating results beat expectations and the company announced a buyback programme.

On the data front, French consumer confidence for August was at 92, in line with estimates. French stocks rose 0.2%.

Consumer confidence data for the Eurozone is due Thursday, as are consumer price reports from Germany and Spain. A key inflation print for the Euro zone is expected Friday, with investors watching the data for further cues on monetary policy.

The European Central Bank meets in September and markets have priced in a 25 basis-point rate cut, though policymakers have emphasized the need for improving inflation data.

“The market is perhaps excessively discounting the risks of sticky inflation in Europe,” said Geoff Yu, EMEA macro strategist at BNY Mellon (NYSE:BK).

“Simply based on commentary alone, the ECB is arguably even more hawkish, even though market pricing is working in the opposite direction in defiance.”

Basic resources lost 1.2%, the sector’s biggest one-day loss in over three weeks, as metal prices were pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and concerns about demand from China.

Europe’s technology sector pared early gains and was flat ahead of industry heavyweight Nvidia’s second-quarter results expected after the close of U.S. markets.

The company’s performance serves as a crucial indicator of market trends with even a slight miss likely to hurt sentiment around artificial intelligence-related companies, even as European stocks have broadly recovered from a U.S. tech-led global equity selloff in early August.

European chip stocks were mixed, with ASM International (AS:ASMI) and STMicroelectronics down 0.7% and 0.9%, while ASML Holding (AS:ASML) rose 0.7%.

Prudential slipped 0.7% despite reporting a first-half profit increase, as a slowdown in Hong Kong and China weighed on overall growth.