© Archyde.com. An electronic screen showing stock trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany. Photo: Archyde.com.
Nov 18 (Archyde.com) – European stocks opened higher on Friday following two consecutive days of declines, as investors snapped up falling energy stocks, although comments regarding monetary tightening from more Federal Reserve officials limited of the winnings.
The European index rose 0.4% by 0813 GMT, with basic resources stocks rising 1.1%, following falling more than 3% in the previous two sessions.
The banking sector also rose 0.3 percent, as the European Central Bank prepared to start the largest cash withdrawal from the banking system for a region in its history, as banks are expected to repay regarding 500 billion euros in loans for targeted long-term refinancing operations.
Rate-sensitive technology stocks fell 0.6 percent following St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said interest rates need to be between 5 and 5.25 percent, up from the current level of less than 4 percent, to be sufficient to curb inflation.
(Prepared by Rehab Alaa for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Suha Jadu)