European stocks rise ahead of CPI data

Investing.com – European stocks rose on Thursday as investors awaited the release of key U.S. inflation data, after gains on Wall Street overnight.

As of 03:25 ET (08:25 GMT), the index was up 0.7% in Germany, 0.5% in France and 0.5% in the UK.

European market sentiment was boosted by overnight strength on Wall Street on Thursday, with major stock indexes ending higher on the back of gains in technology stocks.

The trend has spread to Asia, with Japan’s index crossing 35,000 points for the first time in nearly 34 years.

Still, gains in European markets will be limited by a degree of caution as traders await the release of key U.S. consumer price indexes later.

Uncertainty over whether an early interest rate cut will be allowed has contributed to weakness in global stock markets this year.

The index is expected to show a slight rise in headline inflation, but the consumer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is expected to fall.

Eurozone faces recession risk

Data released earlier on Thursday showed a year-on-year increase of 0.8% in November, recovering from a revised 1.4% decline the previous month.

The latest news from the ECB will be released later in the meeting, but comments from several ECB officials earlier this week painted a very weak picture of the euro zone economy.

“Weak indicators also suggest the economy will contract in December, confirming the possibility of a technical recession in the second half of 2023 and the weakening outlook,” Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Wednesday.

Tesco (OTC:) raises full-year profit target

In the corporate sector, Tesco’s shares rose 1% after the UK’s largest grocer raised its full-year profit forecast after strong sales growth during the Christmas period.

Pagero (ST:) shares rise more than 15% Thomson Reuters U.S. tax technology company Vertex (Nasdaq: ) said it has made an offer to acquire the Swedish tax and e-invoicing solutions company for about $625 million, an offer that exceeds that of U.S. tax technology company Vertex (Nasdaq: ). Starkey ticker: ) previous quotes.

Oil prices rose on Thursday, recovering from the previous session’s weakness, as attacks on Red Sea shipping continued.

As of 03:25 ET, trading was up 0.3% at $71.58 a barrel, while the contract was up 0.3% at $77.03 a barrel.

Both benchmark oil contracts fell on Wednesday after official data showed an unexpected weekly increase of 1.3 million barrels, reversing industry data that had previously shown a weekly decline.

Although the increase was small, the data also showed a massive build in product inventories for a second straight week, pointing to softening U.S. fuel demand. Severe winter storms along the country’s east coast have fueled that thinking, further disrupting road travel in the world’s largest fuel consumer.

However, markets remained supported by ongoing concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East after Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched their largest attack on a Red Sea commercial route on Wednesday.

Additionally, its price rose 0.5% to $2,037.90 per ounce, while the exchange rate rose 0.1% to 1.0981.