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(Reuters) -European stocks rose on Thursday, with luxury and travel stocks climbing after China eased travel restrictions, while investors awaited the U.S. inflation print, which could determine the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.
The pan-European STOXX 600 added 0.6%, having closed at a one-week high in the previous session.
Europe’s personal and household goods sector, which comprises of the largest luxury brands, gained 1.3% after China lifted its pandemic-era restrictions on group tours for more countries, in a potential boon for its tourism sector.
French luxury group LVMH rose 2.0%, while Paris’ blue-chip index added 1.1%.
The travel and leisure sector added 1.3%, with Air France leading gainers.
U.S. stock futures rose ahead of data expected to show a slight acceleration in July consumer prices from a year earlier, but unchanged from the previous month.[.N]
After signs of easing inflation, investors are mostly betting the U.S. central bank will hold interest rates steady at its meeting in September and start cutting rates next year.
“Even if CPI or core CPI turns out to be a little bit weaker than expected, I’m not convinced that the underlying inflationary forces are already (declining) in the United States,” said Luc Aben, chief economist at Van Lanschot Kempen.
Aiding insurers , Germany’s Allianz (ETR:ALVG) climbed 3.4% and Zurich Insurance rose 2.9%, after both companies reported better-than-expected results.
“The European economy has been relatively resilient, so to a certain extent, (that) acted in the earnings,” added Van Lanschot Kempen’s Aben. “Expectations were set very low, so it wasn’t too difficult to cross that bar.”
Germany’s LEG Immobilien rose 4.7% after reporting higher first-half results.
Signs of easing inflation in the United States and euro zone pushed the STOXX 600 to an over one-year high last month, but slowing business activity across the globe and rising Treasury yields have piled pressure on equities in recent weeks.
Siemens slumped 5.6% after the German engineering group missed third-quarter profit estimates.
Denmark’s Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) slipped 1.1% after the drugmaker said it will continue to restrict U.S. supplies of starter doses of its hugely popular Wegovy weight-loss drug.
HelloFresh slipped 0.7% after the German meal-kit maker reported a decline in active customers in the second quarter.
