Europe open: Stoxx makes gains on upbeat Asia session
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Friday 21 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - European shares opened higher on Friday despite a sell-off on Wall Street overnight, taking their cue from an upbeat session in Asia.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.25% at 552.4 with most major bourses higher.
US markets fell as minutes from the Federal Reserve policy makers' latest meeting revealed that central bank officials agreed they would need to see inflation come down more before lowering interest rates further and expressed fears around US President Donald Trump's tariffs.
However, Asian stocks gained with Hong Kong's Hang Seng surging to a three-year high thanks to a surge in tech stocks led by online retailer Alibaba on the back of strong results.
In economic news, the UK ran a record budget surplus of £15.4bn in January but missed estimates of £20bn in a blow for beleaguered Finance Minister Rachel Reeves who faces a tough choice of increasing taxes or cutting spending on Britain's crumbling public services.
In equity news shares in Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered jumped as it unveiled a $1.5bn share buyback after posting a jump in annual earnings.
Engineering company GTT surged after reporting a rise in net income.
French power giant EDF posted a fall in full-year profit, driven by lower prices.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
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