The main European stock markets were rising slightly this Wednesday, February 18, with eyes focused on the publication of the minutes of the last US Federal Reserve meeting in January, in which it maintained key rates, and on UK inflation.
At around 9:25 am in Lisbon, the EuroStoxx 600 advanced 0.73%, to 625.86 points.
Stock exchanges in London, Paris and Frankfurt rose 0.69%, 0.18% and 0.71%, while those in Madrid and Milan rose 1.10% and 0.95%.
The Lisbon stock exchange maintained its opening trend and traded in positive territory, with the main index, the PSI, advancing 0.39%, to 9,109.66 points, a new maximum since June 2008.
In Europe, in addition to the United Kingdom’s inflation data, which slowed to 3% in January, against 3.4% in the previous month, which increases the possibilities that the Bank of England will decide to cut interest rates at the next monetary policy meeting in March, attention continues to be focused on the publication of business results.
The Spanish energy company Naturgy earned 2,023 million euros in 2025, 6.4% more than the previous year, thus reaching an all-time record in profits.
In Asia, the main index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei, rose 1.02% today, driven by the announcement of the first batch of investments in the United States by Japanese companies within the scope of the trade agreement between the two powers, while the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock exchanges do not operate today due to the Lunar New Year festive period.
The Hong Kong stock exchange will not resume its activity until next Friday, February 20th, while those on the Chinese mainland will do so on Tuesday, February 24th.
In Japan, it was announced that the country recorded a trade deficit of 1.15 trillion yen in January, around 6.35 trillion euros or 7.52 trillion dollars at the current exchange rate, the Government reported today.
In turn, market futures on Wall Street point to gains of 0.17% for the Dow Jones and 0.25% for the Nasdaq.
As for precious metals, gold and silver recovered from Tuesday’s falls and advanced 0.88% and 2.81%, respectively.
The price of an ounce of gold, historically considered a safe-haven asset in times of uncertainty, was advancing today, with an ounce trading at $4,922.26 after finishing at a new all-time high of $5,335.09 on January 29.
An ounce of silver was also appreciating to $75.9415 after rising to an all-time high of $117.1580 on January 26.
In the raw materials market, Brent, the benchmark crude oil in Europe, for delivery in April, rises to $67.85, against $67.42 in the previous session, while West Texas Intermediate (WIT), the benchmark in the US, rises 0.30% to $62.41.
In the debt market, interest rates on Germany’s 10-year bond rose to 2.746%, up from 2.737% on Tuesday.
Bitcoin, after falling 12% to $63,400 on February 5, rose 0.68% to $68,098.60.
The euro fell to $1.1832 on the Frankfurt foreign exchange market, against $1.1839 on Tuesday and $1.1980 on January 27, a new high since June 2021.
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