European stocks higher on Asian cheer; H&M discards key target

Investing.com – European stock markets rose Thursday, spurred on by gains in Asia overnight on optimism over the likelihood of additional Chinese stimulus. 

At 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT), the in Germany traded 1.1% higher, the in France rose 1.2% and the in the U.K. climbed 0.6%.

More Chinese stimulus coming?

The major European indices traded positively Thursday, following the lead from Asia overnight, with Japan’s and the major Chinese indices all closing with gains of over 2%.

This follows a report from Bloomberg News that stated Chinese authorities were considering a $142 billion infusion to help big lenders, adding to the stimulus measures announced at the start of the week.

These moves suggest that Chinese leaders have decided that more needs to be done to get the world’s second-largest economy back on track towards the official 5% economic growth target.

China is a major export market for Europe’s senior companies, which have suffered with the Asian giant’s economic slowdown.

SNB set to cut again

Data released Thursday saw the come in at -21.2 compared with the predicted -22.4. While better than expected, this still showed the German economy, the eurozone’s largest, is still struggling.   

Attention Thursday is likely to be on the rate decision by the , along with a series of speeches by Federal Reserve and European Central Bank officials.

The SNB is expected to ease rates by 25 basis points, marking its third straight meeting of cuts.

H&M discards FY earnings goal

In the corporate sector, H&M (ST:) stock fell over 7% after the world’s second-largest listed fashion retailer said on Thursday it no longer expected to reach its full-year earnings margin goal, while reporting a lower-than-expected operating profit for the June-August period.

German chemicals company BASF (ETR:) lowered its dividend proposal for the 2024 business year as part of its new corporate strategy.

Crude slumps on Saudi Arabia report

Oil prices fell Thursday following a report that top exporter Saudi Arabia was set to discard its lofty crude price target as it looks at expanding production. 

By 03:05 ET, the contract dropped 2.3% to $71.25 per barrel, while futures (WTI) traded 2.4% lower at $68.05 per barrel.

The Financial Times reported earlier Thursday that Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest oil producer, is preparing to abandon its unofficial price target of $100 a barrel for crude as it prepares to increase output.

Additionally, supply from Libya could return to the global markets after reports said that delegates from the country’s east and west factions had agreed over the process of appointing a new central bank governor – a move that is expected to resolve a crisis that has taken at least 1 million barrels per day of production offline.

This talk of additional supply meant that the market largely shrugged off the reporting that U.S. oil inventories fell more-than-expected across the board last week.