At the close of trading on Thursday, key stock market indicators reported gains on the back of the results of the Bank of England meeting. The STOXX Europe 600 composite index of Europe's leading companies rose 0.45% to 450.49 points. Britain's FTSE 100 stock index gained 1.28% to close at 7385.34 points, France's CAC 40 rose by 0.36% to 6612.52 points and Germany's DAX sank 0.36% to 14388.06 points.
Shares in French diversified company Veolia Environnement SA rose by 2.8% on corporate news of strong financial results for 2021. In addition, the company's management reported an increase in dividend payout to €1 from €0.7 in the year-earlier period. Deliveroo, the UK's online food delivery provider, soared by 6.4% the day before. The company reported a 57% increase in revenue and a 67% increase in gross transaction volume in 2021. The UK grocery-licensing company Ocado Group PLC slipped by 8.2% after reporting weak financial results for the first quarter of the year.
The company's shares of German industrial concern Thyssenkrupp AG (-9.4%) posted the biggest losses on Thursday. The day before, the media reported that the company may change the volume of its costs and is considering a spin-off of its steel division due to the geopolitical tension in Eastern Europe. Following its March meeting, the British central bank decided to increase its key interest rate to 0.75% from 0.5%. The current rate hike is thus the third consecutive increase since December of last year and since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bank of England's decision to raise the base rate was taken against the backdrop of persistently high inflation. The British regulator expects inflation to rise even faster in the coming months and reach 8% in the second quarter of this year. Against the backdrop of a disappointing outlook, the Bank of England is allowing a further moderate tightening of monetary policy. According to preliminary scenarios by market analysts, the British central bank will raise the base rate to 1% at its May meeting. The day before, European stock market participants continued to evaluate the US Federal Reserve's decision to increase its key rate by 25 basis points for the first time in four years. According to the results of the Fed's March meeting, the rate range now stands at 0.25-0.5% per annum.
In the meantime, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the US central bank is prepared to accelerate the pace of monetary policy tightening if necessary. Further decisions to increase the base rate will be made taking into account the latest statistical data at each individual meeting, Powell said. In Thursday's trading, an 8% rise in oil prices added to the upside for European equities. As a result, the European Energy Index instantly soared by 2.2%, while British Petroleum, Shell and TotalEnergies gained 2.1%, 2.7% and 1%, respectively. Consumer prices in the eurozone soared by 5.9% year-on-year last month, the highest level in the history of the indicator's calculation, according to Eurostat.
