London city skyline at dusk.
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LONDON — European stock markets remained in positive territory on Wednesday as global markets rose.
pan-european Stocks 600 As of 10:45 a.m. (5:45 a.m. ET) in London, major sectors and stock exchanges were mixed, rising more than 0.2%.
The upbeat outlook for regional markets came after major U.S. indexes recovered in trading on Tuesday and Asia-Pacific markets rose sharply overnight, following some declines earlier in the week.
Wall Street’s gains were driven by gains in tech stocks such as Nvidia and gains in Bitcoin on Tuesday, a day after the flagship cryptocurrency posted its worst day since March.
December trading historically bodes well for U.S. stocks, and November was a very weak month with profit-taking driving down the valuations of some big-ticket stocks, with investors looking to gauge the potential for a year-end rally.
Looking at individual stocks, ZARA’s parent company Inditex reported strong nine-month results on Wednesday, revealing currency-adjusted sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1 increased 10.6% compared to the same period in 2024. The stock was up 8.5% in recent trading. The Spanish company said its fall/winter collection “remains well received.”
The fast fashion group, which also owns brands such as Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull & Bear and Stradivarius, said currency-adjusted sales for the quarter rose 8.4% from a year earlier to 9.8 billion euros ($11.4 billion), and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 8.9% to 3.2 billion euros.
The company’s Madrid-listed shares have lagged the Stoxx 600 this year, dropping nearly 7% year-to-date by Wednesday’s trading hours amid increased competition from lower-priced brands such as China’s Shein and Temu.
“This was a very impressive result for Inditex, with strong trading in the second half (of the third quarter),” Barclays analyst Matthew Clements said in a note. He added that significant gross profit expansion and a strong start to the quarter, including Black Friday, provide reassurance heading into 2026.
german fashion brand hugo boss has launched a strategic review to “pave the way for profitable growth” and updated its guidance on Wednesday. The company expects profit before interest and tax to reach between 300 million euros ($349 million) and 350 million euros in 2026, and expects sales to decline in the short term, suggesting a difficult year ahead. Shares fell more than 11% on Wednesday.
Hugo Boss stock price since the beginning of the year
In October, FTSE-100 engineering firm Smith Group announced it would sell some of its companies. Now, the British company announced Wednesday that its baggage screening division, Smiths Detection, will be sold to private equity firm CVC Capital for 2 billion pounds ($2.65 billion). Smith Group shares rose 1.6%. This follows the recent sale of Smiths Interconnect, an electronic components division focused on the defense and medical industries.
Shares in UK renewable energy companies drax group also rose on Wednesday, rising 4.1% on news that it is pursuing a share buyback program announced in July. The company bought 76,241 shares in the company on December 2, according to an LSE filing.
Elsewhere, Jeep owner Stellantis shares rose 8% in morning trading after Swiss investment bank UBS upgraded the stock to buy and advised investors to bet on the company’s “American comeback.”
UBS expects Stellantis to regain market share by about 120 basis points in 2026 from a year ago, adding that the automaker will also benefit from relaxed U.S. emissions standards and internal cost-cutting measures.
Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources, that the Trump administration is preparing to propose a major reversal of Biden-era fuel efficiency standards. These moves will make it easier for manufacturers to sell gasoline-powered cars.
Investors around the world are paying close attention to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on December 10th.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, the market has priced in the probability of a rate cut at the next meeting to be about 89%, which is much higher than the probability in mid-November.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh, Chloe Taylor and Elsa Ohlen contributed to this market report.
