By Nikhil Sharma
(Reuters) – European shares scaled a record high on Wednesday, buoyed by a critical minerals agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine and a string of robust corporate earnings.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.7%, as of 0947 GMT.
The draft minerals deal, central to Kyiv’s push to win Washington’s support to rapidly end the war with Russia, says that the United States wants Ukraine to be “free, sovereign and secure.”
Basic resources stocks rose 1.5%, while a gauge of European luxury firms advanced 1.4%.
Construction and materials rose 1.6% to lead sectoral gains, buoyed by Wienerberger’s 11% jump after the brickmaker reported full-year earnings above estimates.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) jumped 7.1% after it reported fourth-quarter operating profit that was well ahead of analysts’ forecasts. The stock powered a 1% gain in the food and beverages index.
Germany’s Munich Re advanced 5.3% after the world’s largest reinsurer posted an annual operating profit that beat estimates. The index of insurers was up 1.4%.
Germany’s blue-chip index jumped 1.2%, outperforming local bourses.
The DAX has rallied this week following Friedrich Merz-led conservatives’ election win, with hopes that the new coalition could boost defence spending and reform the country’s self-imposed “debt brake”.
The European aerospace and defence index, which has benefited from high military spending prospects, was up 0.9% to hover near its record high.
The STOXX is up about 10% this year, far outpacing the S&P 500 index’s 1.26% gain.
A Reuters poll found that a growing number of investors and strategists expect a correction in their local European stock market over the coming three months, before the region’s equities start rising again and hitting new highs in 2026.
“We finished the year 2024 with a lot of pessimism on Europe … so what we have seen at the beginning of the year is the rebalancing in favour of Europe,” said Roland Kaloyan, head of European equity strategy at Societe Generale.
Among other stock moves, Stellantis fell 3.4% after the company reported a 70% drop in full-year net profit. The automaker said it would return to revenue growth and positive cash generation in 2025.
Shares of Deutsche Telekom fell 3.7% after the company’s full-year results and 2025 outlook slightly missed analysts’ estimates.
All eyes are on U.S. chipmaker giant Nvidia’s quarterly earnings after the bell, with expectations of outstanding results that could placate investors who continue to doubt hefty investment into artificial intelligence.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
