Yesterday European stock markets halted the previous downtrend, and climate change is linked to encouraging corporate results. And the event assuaged investor fears that higher borrowing costs would affect profitability, while economic data from the United States on the path of the economy bolstered hopes for a soft landing. Yesterday, the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed the session up 0.42%, while the previous two sessions were with losses. In London, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.21%, DAX 0.34% in Frankfurt, CAC 40 0.74% in Paris, FTSE MIB 1.32% in Milan and IBEX 0.87% in Madrid. Most of the sectors represented in the STOXX 600 grew, led by retail with 2.2% growth, followed by financial services and banking with 1.9% and 16% respectively. High-tech group STMicroelectronics surged 8.2% after it reported fourth-quarter 2022 sales and earnings that beat forecasts. At the same time, this news spurred the high-tech industry in Geria Epirus as a whole. In the banking sector, Spanish lender Sabadell surged 11.2% to more than a three-year high on optimistic guidance for all of 2023. Finnish telecom equipment maker NOKIA surged 4% as its quarterly earnings beat expectations at the end of last year, with the company also expecting sales to pick up in 2023.

Corporate results are better than market expectations.

In addition to corporate results, market participants also focused on the upcoming decisions of major central banks regarding the cost of borrowing – next week the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will meet for the first time in the new year to decide on their monetary policy. “Corporate results exceeded market expectations. The resumption of China has improved investment sentiment and overall sentiment as traders anticipate a pause in Fed rate hikes next week,” said Jill Kogan, director of market intelligence at HYCM.