European Stocks Rise as U.S. Fed Rate Cut Bolsters Investor Sentiment

European stocks saw a significant increase today, driven by the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates for the first time since last December. This move boosted investor confidence across financial markets, despite some negative performance from specific companies.

By 07:15 GMT, the European "Stoxx 600" index rose by 0.5% to 553.49 points, with gains observed across various sectors. The U.S. central bank had cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point late on Wednesday, a widely anticipated step that marks the first monetary easing move since the end of last year. However, the Fed's indication that it will take a cautious approach to future borrowing cost reductions tempered some of the initial optimism.

In contrast, some individual stocks experienced significant movements in the opposite direction. In Denmark, shares of "Novo Nordisk" rose by 2.6% after new data showed its experimental oral drug, Wegovy, achieved very promising results in a late-stage study, leading to a 16.6% weight loss. This performance surpassed that of the previous injectable versions of the drug.

On the downside, shares of the Swiss packaging group "SIG" plummeted by 20%, leading to a trading halt. This sharp decline followed the company's issuance of a profit warning for 2025 and the suspension of its dividend payments. Similarly, shares of the British retailer "Next" fell by 5.5% after the company projected a slowdown in UK sales growth for the second half of the year, a forecast that overshadowed its strong first-half profit increase of 13.8%.