European shares slipped from Thursday’s highs but still ended the session higher as investors cheered the U.S. Federal Reserve’s dovish shift a day earlier and shrugged off the European Central Bank pushing back against market bets of interest rate cuts.
The pan-European index (.STOXX) closed 0.9% higher to an over 22-month high, after rising as much as 1.7% earlier in the day, and the euro zone’s top blue-chip index (.STOXX50E) was up 0.3% by close after briefly touching an over 22-year high.
Both the indexes pared some gains after the ECB pushed back against bets on imminent cuts to interest rates by reaffirming borrowing costs would remain at record highs despite lower inflation expectations.
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