EUROPEAN and US stocks ended an upbeat week on a benign note yesterday, pushing higher after cooling inflation reports raised hopes of an end to interest rate hikes. 

Major US indices shook off early losses, finishing higher on the session and with weekly gains for the third straight week.

“Every time the market tries to sell off a little bit, more buyers show up,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. “We are setting the stage for a strong end to the month and a strong end to the year.”

The broad-based S&P 500 ended at 4,514.02, up 0.1% for the day and 2.2% for the week.

Analysts have described US investors as prone to a “fear of missing out” amid hopes a slowing US economy will avert a recession.

European markets were up in afternoon deals, with London leading gains as it closed more than one% higher despite data showing an unexpected drop in retail sales in October. 

Hong Kong closed down 2.1%, with shares in Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba hammered after the company cancelled a spinoff of its cloud computing arm, citing the US-China chip war.

But crude prices rebounded after falling almost five% on Thursday as investors look ahead to a meeting of the Opec+ group of oil exporters.

Weaker-than-expected US inflation data this week fanned hopes that the Federal Reserve would not need to hike interest rates further.

UK inflation also slowed more than expected. 

“There is increasing optimism amongst investors that interest rates are at a peak, and that inflation would continue to ease, considering energy prices are on the decline,” said Richard Flax, chief investment officer at Moneyfarm.

Among individual companies, Microsoft fell 1.7% on news of the sudden departure of ChatGPT chief executive Sam Altman. Microsoft, which has been a major investor in the artificial intelligence company, praised interim chief Mira Murati.

“We have a long-term partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft remains committed to Mira and their team as we bring this next era of AI to our customers,” a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement to AFP.

Among individual companies, Gap surged more than 30% despite a cautious forecast as investors cheered sign of a turnaround by the retailer’s newly installed CEO Richard Dickson.

Key figures around 1645 GMT

New York - Dow: UP less than 0.1% at 34,947.28 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.1% at 4,514.02 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite Index: UP 0.1% at 14,125.02 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.3% at 7,504.25 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.9% at 7,233.91 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.8% at 15,919.16 (close)

EURO STOXX 50 - UP 0.9% at 4,340.77 (close) 

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5% at 33,585.20 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1% at 17,454.19 (close) 

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1% at 3,054.37 (close) 

Euro/dollar: UP at US$1.0916 from US$1.0852 on Thursday 

Pound/dollar: UP at US$1.2465 from US$1.2414  

Dollar/yen: DOWN at  ¥149.64 from  ¥150.73  

Euro/pound: UP at 87.55 pence from 87.41 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.1% at US$75.89 per barrel 

Brent North Sea crude: UP 4.1% at US$80.61 per barrel – AFP, November 18, 2023.