Doha: European shares climbed on Wednesday, boosted by strong earnings from Europe’s largest software maker SAP, while US President Donald Trump’s backflip from threats to dismiss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also provided relief to investors. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 1.8%.
According to Qatar News Agency, indexes in Germany, France, Spain, and the UK gained between 2.2% and 3%. Shares of SAP (SAPG.DE) jumped 9.3% after the German company topped analysts’ first-quarter adjusted operating profit expectations. The European technology sector (.SX8P) climbed 3.3%, leading sectoral gains.
Volvo shares fell 2.2% after the Swedish truck maker reported a larger-than-expected drop in first-quarter earnings and lowered its forecast for the North American truck market. Shares in UK energy company BP rose 3.8% after activist hedge fund Elliott raised its stake in the company to just over 5%.