(MENAFN– ecpulse)
European stocks opened slightly higher Wednesday, as investors weighed Federal Reserve tapering worries against cheerful news of a Congress budget accord.
- Stoxx 600 gained 0.17 percent or 0.53 points to 315.44
- Stoxx 50 gained 0.27% to 2968.80 . As of 03.32 a.m. EST.
Investors are now considering the outlook for economic stimulus before next week’s Federal Reserve meeting after the budget compromise.
The Federal Open Market Committee may begin reducing an $85 billion-a-month bond buying program at its Dec. 17-18 meeting.
American lawmakers announced the details of a bipartisan budget agreement on Tuesday evening that would fund the United States government for the next two fiscal years. The deal, which places spending levels above the $967 billion cap established by the sequester and aims to reduce the deficit by $23 billion without raising taxes, comes after intensive negotiations and concessions from both sides.
The bill will now go before the Senate and the House of Representatives. President Barack Obama praised the deal as a "good first step" and said that he would approve the agreement.
Across Asia, investors showed little reaction to the budget deal that aims to avoid a repeat of government shutdown. Investors are looking ahead to next week`s Federal Reserve meeting for clues whether the Federal Reserve will taper its bond-buying program amid further improvement in the labor market.
In Europe, European Finance Ministers took one step closer to finalizing an accord on a joint mechanism to deal with failing banks, despite notable divisions among member countries over the key issues of the plan.
Although, the ministers failed to arrive to a precise deal on Tuesday, they appeared keen to finalize the banking resolution plan before the EU leaders meet on December 19-20.
Corporate News
British telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc. said that it expects to complete the sale of its 45 percent stake in the Verizon Wirless joint venture to U.S. telecommunications giant Verizon Communications, Inc. by February 21, 2014.
Genzyme, a Sanofi company announced that the FDA has granted a six-month priority review designation to its new drug application for Cerdelga (eliglustat), an investigational oral therapy for adult patients with Gaucher disease type 1.
Fraport AG, the owner and operator of Germany`s Frankfurt Airport, said that its Frankfurt Airport served about 4.3 million passengers in November 2013, up 3.5 percent from last year.
Spanish fashion retailer Inditex SA posted higher nine-month net income attributable to the controlling company of 1.67 billion Euros versus 1.655 billion Euros last year.
-The British FTSE 100 gained 0.13% or 8.46 points to 6531.77
-The French CAC 40 gained 0.42% or 17.21 to 4108.35
-Frankfurt’s DAX 30 gained 0.03% or 2.61 points to 9466.60
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