Europe open: Stocks gain early on, Sage jumps in London

(Sharecast News) - European stocks gained on Wednesday morning though upside was limited as investors assessed comments from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and results from chip giant Nvidia. The Stoxx 600 index as up 0.3% early on, with broad-based gains across the continent.

Traders will be still digesting the minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting, released last night, in which the central bank discussed leaving policy "at a restrictive stance for some time" until inflation moves down sustainably to the 2% target.

Results from Nvidia after the closing bell on Wall Street were making headlines after the market gave a muted reaction to forecast-smashing figures. The company beat quarterly revenue forecasts by a staggering $2bn, but fell short of estimates with its current-quarter targets, causing shares to fall in after-hours trading.

Meanwhile, with very little economic data scheduled in Europe, eyes will be on UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt as he delivers the government's Autumn Statement just after midday, when he is expected to unveil tax cuts to win back voters for the Tories who have lost a lot of support over the past year.

"A too generous Autumn Statement - in terms of pleasing voters - could revive the inflation expectations for the UK hence tame the BoE doves," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

In company news, Sage Group was a high riser in London after the enterprise software group reported full-year underlying recurring revenue growth of 12% and proposed a final dividend increase of 5% and a share buyback programme of up to £350m.

Heading the other way was home improvement retail conglomerate Kingfisher which cut its profit guidance for the second time in two months owing to continued market weakness in France. The company, which owns B&Q and Screwfix in the UK along with a host of other DIY brands across Europe, said adjusted pre-tax profit for the year ending January 2024 will now come in at around £560m, compared with £758m the year before.

Swiss luxury giant Richemont was performing well after JP Morgan named the company as "the only name we would still chase" in the European luxury goods sector "which stands, in our view, as one of the quality names in the space and at one of the most attractive valuations".