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The
Europe-wide STOXX 600 index inched up 0.1% to its strongest
level since Aug. 19. Oil and gas and mining stocks extended
gains for a second session, and were up 1.3% each.
Credit Suisse fell 5.1% to the bottom of STOXX 600 after the
embattled Swiss lender said it expects to make a pre tax loss of
up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.58 billion) for the fourth
quarter.
S&P Global's flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
for the euro zone, seen as a good gauge of overall economic
health, nudged up to 47.8 in November from the previous month.
Economists were expecting a fall to 47.0 in a Reuters poll.
The survey, however, also showed overall demand continued to
decline as consumers cut spending amid a cost of living crisis.
"The PMIs confirm that the European economy is probably already
in a technical recession in the fourth quarter but they also
show we're stabilising around the low levels and not falling off
a cliff," said Christian Stocker, lead equity strategist at
Unicredit.
"It is a light recession but nothing dramatic for the earnings."
The benchmark STOXX 600 has rallied about 14% from its September
closing lows, aided by a better-than-expected earnings season
and expectations that Federal Reserve will slow its pace of rate
hikes amid signs of a cooling U.S. economy.
The Fed's November meeting minutes, due at 1900 GMT, will offer
fresh clues on the path of interest rates. Traders have
currently priced in a 77% chance that the U.S. central bank will
hike rates by 50 basis points in December.
The European Central Bank will release its own meeting minutes
on Thursday. ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos said the central
bank will keep raising interest rates until it brings inflation
down to around its 2% mid-term goal.
Kering slipped 0.8% in choppy trading after a report said
Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele is leaving the
Italian fashion house, owned by the French luxury group.
EMS Chemie dropped 3.8% after the Swiss nylon maker cut
full-year earnings forecast amid worsening economic outlook.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V
and Shinjini Ganguli)
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