European stock markets close their best month since January as inflation eases

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed the latest political, military and humanitarian situation in Ukraine in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, the German government said in a statement.

Scholz told the Ukrainian president that Germany will continue to support Ukraine together with its European and international partners.

Scholz also reiterated Germany’s “continued and unwavering solidarity” with Ukraine and said its “future lies in the European Union,” according to the statement.

Zelenskyy spoke about recent Russian attacks on Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure and thanked Germany for its military support.

-Jenni Reid

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said Thursday that he expects the central bank will have to keep interest rates at a “restrictive” level for inflation to return to its target.

“I hope that it will be appropriate to maintain a restrictive stance for quite some time to fully restore equilibrium and bring inflation back to our long-term goal of 2 percent on a sustained basis,” Williams said in prepared remarks.

However, he also said he believes the Fed is “at or near the maximum level” at which it needs to set the federal funds rate, the central bank’s benchmark for short-term lending. Williams added that he expects inflation to fall back to around 2.25% in 2024 before reaching the target again the following year.

—Jeff Cox

The euro traded lower against sterling and the US dollar after euro zone inflation hit 2.4%, below the 2.7% level forecast by economists polled by Reuters.

The euro was 0.55% below the dollar at $1.091 at 11:35 a.m. London time, and was 0.06% below the pound at 0.863, as investors assessed what the figures for possible interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank next year.

Joe Tuckey, head of currency analysis at Argentex Group, said the central bank’s latest forecasts of average inflation of 3.2% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025 may not be too high, and that the latest reading provides a “challenging outlook for any remaining ECB hawks.”

The new outlook will be presented at the ECB meeting in mid-December.

““Markets are now starting to price in an April cut, and price action for the EURUSD in the coming weeks will be driven in part by the timing of the ECB’s rate cut versus that of the Federal Reserve,” Tuckey said in comments sent by email. .

The number of unemployed people in Germany rose by a seasonally adjusted 22,000 in November, the Labor Office reported on Thursday, bringing the total to around 2.702 million.

This was in line with the expectations of analysts previously polled by Reuters.

The unemployment rate, also on a seasonally adjusted basis, was 5.9% in November, down from 5.8% in October.

—Sophie Kiderlin

European markets opened higher on the last day of the month, but sectors were mixed.

Oil and gas stocks rose about 1%, while chemicals fell about 0.4%.

The Stoxx 600 index was up around 0.14% at 8:15 a.m. London time, remaining just below the 6% rise for the month of November.

—Sophie Kiderlin

French inflation increased by 3.4% annually in November, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies reported on Thursday.

This marked a slowdown from the previous month’s reading of 4%.

Compared to the previous month, inflation decreased slightly, by 0.2% in November.

The data also showed that the French economy contracted slightly in the third quarter, with gross domestic product declining 0.1%.

—Sophie Kiderlin

German retail sales increased by 1.1% in October compared to the previous month, the federal statistics office reported on Thursday.

That’s much more than the 0.4% increase previously expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

Non-food items were the main driver of sales growth, while food retail sales weakened.

In annual terms, retail sales decreased slightly by 0.1%.

—Sophie Kiderlin

Three stocks are about to take off, according to a chart pattern closely watched by technical analysts.

The phenomenon, known as a “golden cross,” occurs when a stock’s 50-day moving average price rises above the long-term 200-day moving average. Wall Street views the pattern as a bullish sign of a possible rally ahead.

It comes at a time when the S&P 500 is up nearly 10% and chart analysts expect the index to rise even further.

Technical analysis is often used to identify an entry point for stocks. To be sure, the process uses historical data to plot future results, which are not guaranteed.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about all three stocks here.

—Ganesh Rao

Autonomous vehicles (or vehicles with embedded chips and sensors to enable autonomous driving) have been gaining momentum, and several stocks are making good use of the theme, according to Fubon Research.

“Cars will drive the next industrial revolution, replicating the development of the smartphone industry. As countries focus on vehicle safety, they are mandating the installation of ADAS (Advanced Driving Assistance System)” , the research house’s analysts wrote in a November report. Note of 27 distributed by Jefferies.

Autonomous transportation and energy systems, such as electric vehicles, are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24% to reach $324 billion in 2030, making them the growth” in the industry, the analysts added.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about stocks to play here.

—Amala Balakrishner

Depending on whether it will be a higher regime for longer or if rates start to fall, investors might wonder if they should continue investing in cash or start turning to bonds.

British asset management firm Schroders said it is now possible to earn 5% on cash deposits in the US and UK, and 3% to 4% in Europe. This is quite similar to what investors can get from government bonds, while high-quality corporate bonds yield more, almost 6.5% in the US and UK, and 4.6% in Europe.

“But bond prices can rise and fall, while cash cannot. This has led many investors to ask: Are bonds worth worrying about?” she said.

Here’s what the pros say about how to invest in the fixed income space (cash or bonds) in the next two years and beyond.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

—Weizhen Tan

European markets are heading for a positive open on Thursday.

The UK’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 3 points higher at 7,425, Germany’s DAX is expected to rise 29 points to 16,194, France’s CAC is expected to rise 6 points to 7,277 and Italy’s FTSE MIB is expected to rise 18 points to 29,730, data shows. from IG.

Regional investors will closely monitor the release of preliminary euro zone inflation data for November on Thursday. France’s final third-quarter gross domestic product data will also be released, as will Germany’s unemployment figures for November.

-Holly Ellyatt