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London's FTSE 100 index rose for a second day on Thursday, hitting a five-month high after euro zone interest rates were cut for the second time in a row.
The index rose 56.06 points, or 0.67%, to close at 8,385.13, its highest level since May 21.
In Frankfurt, the European Central Bank (ECB) cut the headline interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25%. This is the second consecutive reduction and the third reduction in 2024.
The ECB said it was confident in continuing to cut interest rates as “the process of defusing inflation is well underway” while economic indicators continue to trend downward.
Experts said the central bank was also keeping an eye on growing signs that economic activity was starting to slow across the eurozone.
“Weakness in manufacturing has been a feature of the economy for more than a year, but it has become more apparent in recent months,” said Ryan Jajasaputra, an economist at Investec Economics. The ECB pointed out that the slowdown in overall household consumption was weaker than expected.
“However, (Christine) Lagarde stressed that the ECB does not foresee a recession.”
He added that the ECB remains “tight-lipped” about the exact direction of policy and has not indicated whether it will start cutting rates at a faster pace.
Stock prices were boosted in Paris, with the Cac40 index rising 1.22%. In Frankfurt, the Dax closed 0.77% higher.
In New York, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones were both up about 0.3% by the time European markets closed.
The pound rose by about 0.2% to 1.3 against the US dollar, and by about 0.4% to 1.2 against the euro.
Simply Be and J.D. Williams fashion retailer N.Brown announced in an internal news release that it has agreed to be acquired by Joshua Alliance. Joshua Alliance is a man whose family founded the group in the 1960s.
Mr Alliance said fashion companies would be better off operating privately as their current shareholder ownership meant they would have to “incur the significant costs of going public while not benefiting from being listed on the AIM market”. said.
N.Brown's stock price soared 43.3% at the close of trading as investors raised money before the deal was completed.
Rentokil also rose sharply on Thursday after the company reported higher sales in its pest control business and said it was making progress in reducing its cost base.
The company rose to the top of the FTSE 100 after telling investors it was “taking steps to mitigate cost overruns”, including job cuts and strict controls on overtime and staffing.
Rentokil stock ended the day up 8.7%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Rentokil, up 29.9p to 371p, Melrose Industries, up 17.3p to 448.8p, Informa, up 31.8p to 841p, Anglo American, up 77p to 2,337.5p, and Barclays. It rose by 8.05p. 245.1p.
The biggest decliners on the FTSE 100 index were Mondi, down 103.5p to 1,286.5p, Rio Tinto, down 93p to 4,946p, United Utilities, down 20.5p to 1,085.5p, and Persimmon, down 31.5p to 1,688.5p. It was the Smith Group. 29p-1,626p.
