By Nikhil Sharma
(Reuters) -European shares hit a record high on Wednesday, as chip equipment maker ASML led technology stocks higher after reporting strong quarterly results.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.5%, as of 0923 GMT, rising past Tuesday’s all-time high close.
ASML’s shares jumped 11.2% after the Dutch company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter bookings of 7.09 billion euros ($7.39 billion).
ASML’s earnings also reassured investors that AI chip prospects were still healthy, as they recovered from a selloff earlier this week sparked by the release of China’s DeepSeek’s model, which uses less computing power than those of rivals.
STMicroelectronics, BE Semiconductor and ASM International gained between 2.1% and 7.2%.
Technology was the top winning sector, soaring 4.5%, and was set for its best single day in a year.
“Today you see that at least ASML is still profiting from demand from the chip sector… It seems that for now, the fears for the whole AI and supply chain for AI have been overblown,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, Senior Market Economist at Rabobank.
Other AI-exposed stocks such as Schneider Electric and Siemens Energy, which took a hit on Monday, were trading 5.8% and 1.7% higher, respectively.
Meanwhile, Swedish truck maker Volvo jumped about 7% after reporting strong orders in the fourth quarter. The stock helped lift the industrial goods sector by 1.3%.
Limiting overall gains, LVMH fell 5.6% as the luxury goods group’s sales growth failed to impress investors, following a string of strong results from rivals and recent price gains.
Rivals Kering and Christian Dior also declined 6.4% and 5.2%, respectively. The French benchmark CAC 40 index lost 0.2%.
The key event for the day will be the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision, with the central bank expected to keep policy rates unchanged.
The European Central Bank is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points on Thursday, with investors expecting policymakers to address impact of Donald Trump’s proposed trade duties on the bloc’s policy outlook.
On the data front, euro zone lending growth accelerated in December, suggesting that a string of interest rate hikes have started to transmit through to the real economy.
German consumer sentiment is set to dip heading into February due to growing pessimism among households about the economy and their income prospects.
Spain’s economy expanded a stronger-than-expected 3.2% in 2024, outperforming its euro zone peers.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Varun H K)
