Europe midday: Shares power ahead to new highs with eyes on ECB rate call

(Sharecast News) - European markets continued to set intra-day records again on Thursday as investors waited for a rate decision from the European Central Bank amid an earnings and data dump. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.64% at 537.60, having hit 537.7. Germany's DAX reached a new high of 21,723 before settling just under the 21,700 mark.

Economists expect the ECB to start the year with a 25-basis-point interest rate cut, taking the key overnight deposit facility rate to 2.75% in what would be its fifth cut since last June. Overnight the US Federal Reserve held rates steady as expected.

The eurozone economy flatlined in the final quarter of 2024, according to flash estimates published on Thursday.

Eurozone GDP growth came in at 0% compared with the previous quarter's growth of 0.4%, the European Commission stats agency said. Economists had expected growth of 0.1%.

In a separate release, the eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in December was 6.3%, up from 6.2% in November 2024 and down from 6.5% in December 2023, according to Eurostat

Meanwhile, German GDP contracted more than expected in the final three months of 2024, according to flash estimates published on Thursday.

Gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.2% lower year on year in 2024 than in the previous year against estimates of 0.1%, the federal statistics office Destatis said.

"Cyclical and structural pressures stood in the way of better economic development in 2024," said Destatis president Ruth Brand on Thursday.

"These include increasing competition for the German export industry on key sales markets, high energy costs, an interest rate level that remains high, and an uncertain economic outlook. Against this backdrop, the German economy contracted once again in 2024."

In equity news, shares in Deutsche Bank fell as the German lender reported a bigger-than-expected sharper-than-expected fall in fourth-quarter profit.

Oil giant Shell gained despite a sharp fall in annual profit on the back of weaker oil prices.

H&M was down after the Swedish fashion group as fourth quarter estimates missed estimates.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com