Following Wednesday's results, broad-based gains saw the pan-European index rise after the release of new statistics on the eurozone.
Thus, at the time of writing, the pan-European index Stoxx 600 rose by 0.36% - to 438.85 points.
French CAC 40 gained 1.04%, British FTSE 100 increased by 0.81% and German DAX gained 0.29%.
Herewith, as of November results, key European indices surged by 6.74-8.63%. Thus, FTSE 100 had grown by 6.74%, CAC 40 had gained 7.53% and DAX had jumped up by 8.63%.
Leaders of growth and decline
Swedish clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) gained 0.4%. The company announced that it would cut 1,500 as part of cost-cutting drive.
British luxury brand Mulberry Group PLC plummeted by 15.8% as it revealed it swung to a pre-tax loss for the half year.
The share price of Scandinavian airline SAS AB jumped 0.45%. At the same time, it reported a widened net loss in its fiscal fourth quarter as jet-fuel prices rise and foreign-exchange effects weighed.
Market sentiment
On Wednesday, European investors closely followed the dynamics of the Asian stock market, where most indicators significantly increased in the trading session amid rumors about the possible easing of anti-Covid restrictions in China.
Recently, Chinese traders have been seriously worried about the "Zero-Covid" policy in the state, because the new and current restrictive measures in China have a negative impact on the economic activity of the country.
Hundreds of demonstrators and police clashed in Shanghai on Sunday night in protests over China's stringent COVID restrictions. The police dispersed protesters with gas canisters.
Despite this, markets hope that mass protests in China will force local authorities to loosen regional restrictions. For example, the Chinese government has already announced that it plans to encourage vaccination against COVID-19 among the adult population.
On Wednesday, investors also analyzed the latest data on consumer prices in the bloc. Eurozone inflation rate eases to 10% in November compared to 10.6% in October, according to Eurostat. In this case, analysts predicted a fall only to 10.4%.
According to final data of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies of France (Insee), in the third quarter the volume of gross domestic product of the country grew by 0.2% compared with the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the consumer price level in France soared by 7.1% year-on-year last month. Inflation also rose by 7.1% in October.
Consumer spending in the country collapsed by 2.8% in October compared to September. The fall in October was the sharpest since spring 2021. At the same time, analysts predicted a more moderate decline of 1%.
Meanwhile, according to the Federal Employment Agency of Germany, the number of unemployed in Germany rose by 17,000 last month. The growth of the index was recorded for the sixth consecutive month. At the same time, experts predicted an average increase of only 13,500.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell set to speak Wednesday evening at the Hutchins Center about the central bank's monetary policy and the labor market.
Participants of the world stock markets seen to closely follow Powell's statements, hoping to get signals about the Fed's next steps.
