European shares climb with focus on US cenbank policy decision

(Reuters) – European stocks advanced on Friday and were poised for weekly gains, supported by miners, while investors shifted their focus to the U.S. Federal Reserve ahead of a long-awaited monetary easing cycle at its meeting next week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.5% at 514.5 points, as of 0710 GMT, with France’s CAC 40 rising 0.3% after consumer prices in the region’s second-largest economy rose 2.2% year-on-year in August, in line with its preliminary reading.

Miners boosted the markets, rising 0.6%, as copper prices hit a two-week high on buying ahead of a Chinese holiday and amid stimulus hopes after President Xi Jinping pushed for measures to boost economic growth. [MET/L]

After the European Central Bank (ECB) lowered its deposit rate to 3.5% on Thursday, investors are now wagering on the size and extent of the rate cut by the U.S. central bank next week, with money markets seeing a 43% chance for a 50 bps reduction on Sept. 18.

“I think there’s a strong case for 50,” said Bill Dudley, the former chief of the New York Fed.

Astrazeneca (LON:AZN) was the top loser with a 1.1% fall after Deutsche Bank cut the stock rating to “sell” and lowered its price target on Friday.

Shares of Denmark’s DSV climbed 2.4% after the transportation and logistics services operator announced plans to invest around one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in Germany over the next three to five years as the new owner of Deutsche Bahn’s logistics unit Schenker.