NVIDIA, Treasury yields, Jackson Hole

LONDON – European stock markets rose on Wednesday, with attention focused on earnings and comments from US central banks

the Stokes 600 The index was up 0.45% at 8:45 AM GMT, with most sectors gaining. Healthcare stocks led the gains, up 0.9%. Auto stocks fell 0.46% after the bleak data was released PMI figures For Germany, which showed a deep decline in manufacturing output and a decline in commercial activity.

the euro It was lower against currencies including U.S. dollar And British pound The PMIs also came in well below expectations Euro-zoneWith the decline in service activity.

Globally, investors will be interested in the California-based chip designer nvidiaLet’s see how it performs against Wall Street’s skyrocketing expectations after an excellent first quarter.

Shares of the company have risen nearly 200% this year due to hype around its uses in artificial intelligence.

European technology stocks are higher this week, rising 2% on Tuesday, as investors also evaluate Microsoft’s new offer to UK regulators for gaming giant Activision Blizzard, and filing for chip company Arm’s to list on Nasdaq.

The rise in long-term US Treasury yields eased on Tuesday, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note reaching its highest level since 2007. Yields also fell early Wednesday.

Speculation continues as to whether Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will strike a non-committal tone in his Jackson Hole speech on Friday, or deliver market-moving comments that are more or less dovish than previously expected.

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Thomas Barkin He said Tuesday There are fresh signs of a “reacceleration scenario” for the US economy – with inflation remaining high and the economy strengthening – which could pave the way for further interest rate hikes. Retail sales and consumer confidence remain resilient in the US

Barkin added that the recent rally in Treasury yields gave him no reason to believe the Fed had tightened financial conditions too much, and that the 10-year yield above 4% was “appropriate.”

It will be difficult for central bankers gathered for the Jackson Hole symposium not to stir up the bond market, Altaf Kassam, head of investment strategy and research at State Street Global Advisors, told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe.

He added, “What they are desperately trying to avoid is a repeat of what happened in the early 1980s when they declared victory over inflation, started easing monetary policy and then inflation rose again in their faces.”

“If history chimes, which it often does, we will see them continue their hawkish rhetoric, say they’re not done yet and certainly leave room open for further rate hikes on a data-driven basis.”