Global stocks mostly drifted higher on Thursday, with sentiment remaining positive amid recent investor optimism that the Federal Reserve has finished raising interest rates in its fight against inflation—a narrative broadly supportive of equities.
With U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday—reopening on Friday for an abridged session—trading volumes are light amid few major catalysts.
London’s
FTSE 100
was a rare faller, down 0.1%, but the Paris
CAC 40
advanced 0.2% and Frankfurt’s
DAX
was up 0.1%. The pan-European
Stoxx 600
hovered around flat.
Hong Kong’s
Hang Seng Index
rose 1% and the
Shanghai Composite
finished 0.6% higher, with Tokyo markets closed for a Japanese holiday.
Overseas markets saw a “feel-good holiday vibe emanating from the U.S., as Wall Street headed into the Thanksgiving weekend,” said Susannah Streeter, an analyst at broker Hargreaves Lansdown.
“With worries about another hike from the Fed now largely put to bed, and the economy showing fresh signs of resilience, there is hope that a soft landing will be achieved despite interest rates scaling such heights. As turkey dinners take center stage today, trading will be thin,” she added.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
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