European and Japanese stocks rose on Thursday, supported by lower oil prices and a temporary pause in the global bond sell-off after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, and signalled that it could raise them again this year.
European gains led by travel and technology
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.47% to 640.10 points, while Germany’s DAX gained 0.57% to 25,684 points.
The travel and leisure stocks index rose 0.8%, benefiting from lower oil prices, while the technology index climbed 0.7%. The European energy stocks index, meanwhile, fell 0.2%.
Oil prices remained above 100 dollars per barrel despite falling for a second session, amid reports that Saudi Arabia had offered additional crude shipments via Oman.
Nikkei and TOPIX close higher
In Japan, the Nikkei closed 0.3% higher at 64136.25 points, while the broader TOPIX rose 0.8% to 4094.19 points.
One of the main factors behind today’s rise in stocks was a series of developments that dispelled some of the uncertainty in markets
Akiyama added: "However, despite gains across a broad range of sectors and stocks, Japan’s stock market cannot currently be described as being in a particularly strong position."
Akiyama said interest-rate-sensitive technology stocks were trading weakly ahead of the Bank of Japan’s decision on Friday, as the market continued to expect that the development of artificial intelligence could slow.
Nintendo shares rose 4.3% and Bandai Namco gained 3.4%, while Sumitomo Pharma jumped 5.3%. Advantest and Tokyo Electron shares fell 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively, while Inpex dropped 3.2% as oil prices declined.
Markets await Bank of England and Bank of Japan decisions
Attention is turning to the Bank of England, which is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, while markets expect the Bank of Japan to raise its policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point.
Global government bond yields were broadly stable after reaching their highest levels in months earlier in September.
