Stocks, News and ECB Rate Decision | Real Time Headlines

ECB President Christine Lagarde told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach at a news conference after the decision that the downside risks to the ECB’s inflation forecast “are probably” greater than the upside risk.

Asked about recent warnings that the ECB now faces a resurgence of its old challenge of too low inflation, Lagarde said: “We can have a debate ad nauseam on this particular issue and you will find there are people on both sides of the equation. Different perspectives.

“What is clear to everyone is that there are still upside and downside risks to our forecasts, and the downside risks are probably greater than the upside risks, but what I’m talking about here is our forecast for inflation,” she added.

—Jenny Reed

ECB President Christine Lagarde told a news conference that despite a variety of more positive indicators – including easing labor cost pressures, a key area of ​​concern – the ECB’s ” There is no pre-commitment to a specific interest rate path.”

She also reiterated past messages that the Governing Council is “determined to ensure that inflation returns to our 2% target in a timely manner” and that to achieve this goal, interest rates will remain restrictive for as long as possible.

The approach is still “reliant on data and constant meetings,” she said.

—Jenny Reed

Traders will now turn their attention to the European Central Bank’s press conference at 1:45 pm London time for any clues on the central bank’s future path for interest rates.

Not long ago, the European Central Bank announced a 25 basis point interest rate cut at its October meeting.

“The latest information on inflation suggests that the deflation process is on track,” the ECB said. explain in a statement. “The outlook for inflation is also affected by recent unexpected declines in economic activity indicators.”

— Sam Meredith

The European Central Bank cut its deposit rate by 25 basis points on Thursday, the first consecutive rate cut in 13 years.

The move was in line with widespread market expectations and marked the central bank’s third interest rate cut this year.

— Sam Meredith

this EUR It was little changed during the trading session at $1.0863, with just minutes remaining before the European Central Bank’s next monetary policy decision.

The European Central Bank is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its October meeting.

— Sam Meredith

Iain Stealey, international chief investment officer for global fixed income currencies and commodities at JPMorgan Asset Management, said European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde may not commit to a rate cut by the central bank in December.

His comments come ahead of the European Central Bank’s next monetary policy decision on Thursday, which many expect will cut interest rates by 25 basis points for the second consecutive meeting.

“If we took a step back, about three weeks ago, we wouldn’t have thought we would be discussing cuts today because, as you said, it’s not the norm for them to be meeting again and again and it feels like they’re going to skip this meeting and go to 12 “This month,” Steely told CNBC’s “European street signs“Thursday.

“But I think maybe what’s more important is what the future looks like,” he continued. “I do think Christine Lagarde will want to try and stay away from something that is absolutely fully committed to December.”

— Sam Meredith

European markets continued their gains in early trading, with investors generally expecting the European Central Bank to cut interest rates for the first time in 13 years.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.7% at around 11:50 a.m. London time. The benchmark regional index opened slightly above flat on Thursday.

— Sam Meredith

Stocks of German laboratory supplies maker Sartorius The company’s shares rose nearly 12% on Thursday report Nine-month results were in line with expectations and the full-year outlook was confirmed.

The company surged to the top of the Stoxx 600 on the news.

— Sam Meredith

shares Nokia Shares in Finnish telecoms fell more than 4% on Thursday report Third-quarter earnings were mixed.

The company reported third-quarter operating profit rose 9% on an annualized basis, exceeding analysts’ expectations, but quarterly net sales fell 8% annually to 4.33 billion euros ($4.7 billion).

The stock fell to the bottom of the pan-European Stoxx 600 index on the news.

— Sam Meredith

this EUR The pair fell 0.1% to $1.0852 on Thursday morning as investors awaited the European Central Bank’s next monetary policy decision.

The European Central Bank is generally expected Later in the day, a quarter-point rate cut was announced for the second consecutive meeting.

Swiss engineering group’s new CEO ABB Fast-growing data centers and the electrification of everything are “really driving” the business, it said on Thursday.

His comments were made collectively report A mixed set of quarterly results. ABB announced a third-quarter operating core profit of US$1.55 billion and an operating EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes and amortization) margin of 19%, a record high, and raised its full-year profit forecast.

However, ABB said it expected full-year comparable revenue growth to be “less than 5%”, a slight downward revision from its previous forecast of “around 5%”.

“We’ve had very strong quarterly order growth and positive book building and, as you said, record profits, so it really shows the benefits of having a broad industrial business, especially with the electrification of everything today, ABB CEO Morten Wierod said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

He added: “The significant growth in data center and power demand is really driving the development of ABB at the moment.” Wierod succeeded Bjorn Rosengren at the helm of ABB on August 1.

ABB shares were up 1.1% on Thursday morning.

— Sam Meredith

Swiss food giant nestle Thursday release Underlying sales growth in the first nine months of the year was weaker than expected and it cut its full-year sales forecast.

Nestlé reported organic sales growth of 2% in the first nine months of 2024, below the 2.5% forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.

The company also announced a reorganization of its senior leadership and organizational changes and said it now expects full-year sales to grow about 2%, unchanged from the previous nine months. had it before forecast Organic sales growth is expected to reach at least 3% in 2024.

The company’s shares were down 2.3% on Thursday morning.

— Sam Meredith

European stocks edged higher shortly after the opening bell on Thursday.

Pan-European Stoke 600 Trading volume rose nearly 0.2%, with most sectors showing positive numbers.

— Sam Meredith

French power equipment maker Schneider Electric’s chief executive said on Thursday that the company’s $850 million deal The acquisition of a controlling stake in US liquid cooling company Motivair will help strengthen its product offering for the fast-growing energy-intensive data center market.

“We have always said we will be nimble to pursue acquisitions and targets that are fully consistent with Schneider Electric’s strategy,” Schneider Electric CEO Peter Herweck told CNBC.European Squawk Box“Thursday.

“As the largest provider of data center infrastructure, we believe that as (generating) artificial intelligence and large language models develop, more high-density data centers will be needed, and you need…from grid to wafer, Then from wafer to cooler.

Herweck said the all-cash deal announced Thursday to acquire an initial 75% controlling stake in Motivair was “significant, but not overly expensive” and was a “very good fit” with the company’s strategy.

The acquisition comes amid growing global scrutiny of the next wave of generative artificial intelligence. environmental issuesrecently partnered with tech giant turning nuclear trying to realize its artificial intelligence ambitions.

— Sam Meredith

European Central Bank (ECB) Interest rates may be cut Goldman Sachs said it rose 25 basis points on Thursday but that market participants should not expect too much forward guidance.

Jari Stehn, chief European economist at Goldman Sachs, said part of the reason the euro has not come under more pressure in recent weeks is that the European Central Bank has “cut rates in a very data-dependent way without cutting rates.” Giving you too much information”. Guidance on where to go next. “

“We think that’s going to be the message today as well,” Stern told CNBC.European Squawk Box“Thursday.

“So we’re going to cut rates by 25 basis points,” Stehn said, citing weak economic data. “But I do feel that the ECB is not really willing to commit to a particular path at this stage.”

— Sam Meredith

European markets are expected to open mixed on Thursday.

British FTSE 100 German stocks are expected to open 31 points higher at 8,360 German DAX Index France rose 21 points to 19,472 CAC Up 4 points to 7,495 points, Italy FTSE MIB It fell 10 points to 34,482 points, according to IG data.

The main focus for investors today will be the latest monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank. At the same time, profits for ABB, Nestlé, Pernod Ricard, Publicis and Nokia also come from this.

Other releases include European trade balance data and inflation data.

— Holly Elliot

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