European stocks close in mixed field with tech stocks and Fed on radar

European stocks rallied on Wednesday, helped by stronger tech and healthcare roles, but weakness in the retail and energy sectors limited gains ahead of a Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. -American).

The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.3%, interrupting a streak of five sessions of losses.

Technology stocks led gains, up 1.3% after a recent selloff, while healthcare stocks rose 1.1% Investors were cautious ahead of this afternoon’s Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting amid expectations that the bank US central will indicate a reduction in its asset purchases.

“We don’t expect a big cycle of interest rate hikes to start next year as inflation peaks, which should give the Fed more time to act and then see what the impacts are before it gets too aggressive,” he said. Jeremy Gatto, Multi-Asset Portfolio Manager at Unigestion.

The European Central Bank will also meet on Thursday, and the expectation is that there will be a decision on how to adapt the bank’s regular asset purchase program (APP) once the much larger PEPP pandemic-fighting scheme ends in March.

The STOXX 600 has risen about 1.7% so far in December, in what is typically a strong month for global equity markets.

London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.7%, its sixth straight decline and the worst streak since the March 2020 pandemic hit, pressured by retail sales, oil and travel stocks.

• In London, the Financial Times index retreated 0.66%, to 7,170.75 points;
• In Frankfurt, the DAX index rose 0.15% to 15,476.35 points;
• In Paris, the CAC-40 index gained 0.47% to 6,927.63 points;
• In Milan, the Ftse/Mib index appreciated by 0.41%, to 26,666.08 points;
• In Madrid, the Ibex-35 index dropped 1.24%, to 8,275.00 points;
• In Lisbon, the PSI20 index dropped 0.27%, to 5,429.42 points.