European shares were higher at the open on Thursday as investors eyed more economic data and minutes of the European Central Bank’s September meeting.
The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.76% in early deals after Wall Street staged a late rally. Attention now turns to euro zone construction activity for September and retail sales data for August later in the day.
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% despite Fitch downgrading the UK’s credit rating outlook late on Wednesday to “negative” from “stable”, citing the government’s recently announced mini-budget.
“The large and unfunded fiscal package announced as part of the new government’s growth plan could lead to a significant increase in fiscal deficits over the medium term,” the ratings agency said.
In equity news, Imperial Brands shares gained after the tobacco company said current trading was in line with expectations and it was launching a £1bn share buyback.
Shares of Credit Suisse climbed after JP Morgan upgraded the Swiss Bank’s stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘underweight’.
On the downside, Shell lost ground as it warned third-quarter profits would be hit by a sharp decline in oil refining margins and weaker natural gas trading.
“Shell enjoyed record profits in the first and second quarter spurred by a surge in underlying oil and gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, since June, oil has posted four consecutive months of declines, with Brent crude down by around 25% even after this week’s countertrend rally,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.
“In what is a notoriously cyclical business, Shell is grappling with a dysfunctional and volatile gas market as well as expectations of softening oil demand, particularly from China as the global economy cools.”
Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com
