Forexpros – European stock markets were broadly higher on Wednesday, amid signs U.S. lawmakers were making progress on reaching an agreement to lift the country’s debt ceiling, while strong earnings from Apple lifted shares in the technology sector.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 jumped 0.65%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.7%, while Germany’s DAX 30 gained 0.4%.
U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday there had been “some progress” in talks with lawmakers on raising the USD14.3 trillion U.S. debt limit, boosting optimism that a deal would be reached before the August 2 deadline.
Meanwhile, consumer electronics giant Apple reported stronger-than-expected fiscal third quarter earnings late Tuesday, with profit more than doubling from the same period a year ago as iPhone and iPad sales soared.
The upbeat results bolstered chip-related companies, with Infineon Technologies jumping 2.7%, STMicroelectronics up 1.2%, while U.K.-based ARM Holdings, which makes chips used in Apple’s iPhone rallied 5%.
Shares in the financial sector extended strong gains from the previous session as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were to meet later in the day ahead of Thursday’s summit meeting of European Union leaders.
French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas advanced 3.3% and 2.6% respectively, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank gained 2.1%.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.7% as BHP Billiton led gains after it posted record output across several commodities in its annual production report.
BHP shares climbed 2.6%, rival Rio Tinto gained 2.5%, while copper producer Xstrata added 1.6%.
On the downside, pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca saw shares slump 0.85% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted against approving its new diabetes drug on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was upbeat ahead of earnings reports from eBay, American Express and Intel due out later in the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0.35%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.4%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 0.8%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales, as well as a government report on crude oil inventories.
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