LONDON — European stocks closed higher on Wednesday as global markets watched monetary policy moves from several major central banks.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed up by 1.5%, with travel and leisure stocks adding 3.4% to lead gains as almost all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory.
The strong momentum for regional markets on Wednesday came after several negative trading sessions in Europe, Asia and the U.S.
Trading has been marked by volatility as anticipation grows that the Federal Reserve, as well as other central banks, will resort to aggressive interest rate hikes to curb rampant inflation.
The Federal Open Market Committee will conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to hike interest rates by 75 basis points Wednesday. It comes after the U.S. consumer price index rose by an annual 8.6% in May, its highest year-on-year increase since 1981.
The European Central Bank held an unscheduled monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, with bond yields surging for many governments across the euro zone.
Policymakers subsequently announced plans to create a new tool to tackle the risk of fragmentation across the common currency bloc in order to assuage fears of a fresh debt crisis.
The Bank of England, meanwhile is expected to make its fifth consecutive interest rate hike on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks were higher as traders awaited the outcome of the Fed's meeting.
In terms of individual share price movement in Europe, Swiss software company Temenos climbed 7.9% toward the top of the Stoxx 600 after winning a digital transformation contract with a U.S. banking group.
At the bottom of the index, Swedish health care company Getinge plunged more than 17% after revising down its 2022 outlook.