European Shares Extend Gains For Fourth Day On Fed Rate Optimism

European stocks traded higher on Thursday to extend gains for a fourth consecutive session amid optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve is done with raising interest rates.

The Bank of England announces its monetary policy decision later today, with no change in rates expected.

In economic releases, data showed German unemployment rose more than expected in October.

Separately, HCOB’s final eurozone manufacturing PMI, compiled by S&P Global, dropped to 43.1 in October from September’s 43.4.

The pan European STOXX 600 jumped 1.4 percent to 442.70 after rising 0.7 percent on Wednesday.

The German DAX, France’s CAC 40 and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 were up between 1.3 percent and 1.6 percent.

Danish pharma major Novo Nordisk added 2.6 percent after reporting record sales and operating profits for the third quarter.

BT Group, Britain’s biggest broadband and mobile provider, soared 6.5 percent after quarterly earnings beat forecasts.

Shell climbed 2.2 percent. The oil giant announced a $3.5 billion share buyback after reporting $6.2 billion profit for the third quarter, matching estimates.

Trainline shares jumped 10 percent. The online vendor moved its forecasts for the full year towards the top end of its guidance after pre-tax profit rose for the first half of fiscal 2024.

Ladbrokes-owner Entain fell 2.3 percent after lowering its profit margin forecast for the year.

Hikma Pharma lost 3 percent despite forecasting core operating margin growth for its generics business at the upper end of its earlier guidance for this year.

Alstom jumped 4.6 percent in Paris after it secured an eight-year services contract extension worth around €950 million from CrossCountry in the United Kingdom.

Schneider Electric added 3 percent. The company focused on digital automation and energy management said that it has finalized the acquisition of EcoAct SAS, a climate consultation and net zero solutions provider.

Engineering & construction firm Technip Energies soared 4.2 percent after confirming its…