European stocks advanced on Friday and were poised for weekly gains, supported by miners, while investors shifted their focus to the US Federal Reserve ahead of a long-awaited monetary easing cycle at its meeting next week.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.5% at 514.5 points, as of 0710 GMT, with France’s CAC 40 rising 0.3% after consumer prices in the region’s second-largest economy rose 2.2% year-on-year in August, in line with its preliminary reading.
Miners boosted the markets, rising 0.6%, as copper prices hit a two-week high on buying ahead of a Chinese holiday and amid stimulus hopes after President Xi Jinping pushed for measures to boost economic growth.
After the European Central Bank (ECB) lowered its deposit rate to 3.5% on Thursday, investors are now wagering on the size and extent of the rate cut by the US central bank next week, with money markets seeing a 43% chance for a 50 bps reduction on Sept. 18.
“I think there’s a strong case for 50,” said Bill Dudley, the former chief of the New York Fed.
Astrazeneca was the top loser with a 1.1% fall after Deutsche Bank cut the stock rating to “sell” and lowered its price target on Friday.
Stocks, dollar diverge before key US inflation data
Shares of Denmark’s DSV climbed 2.4% after the transportation and logistics services operator announced plans to invest around one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in Germany over the next three to five years as the new owner of Deutsche Bahn’s logistics unit Schenker.
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