Global stocks rose on Wednesday and European equities outperformed as Italy soothed market nerves with the news that a windfall tax on bank profits would be less punishing than analysts had expected.
MSCI’s broad index of global shares (.MIWD00000PUS) was 0.3% higher in early European trade. Europe’s regional Stoxx 600 (.STOXX) share index rose 1%, with bank stocks (.SX7P) around 1.6% higher. Italy’s FTSE MIB share index gained 2%.
The Italian government shocked markets earlier this week with an announcement of a levy on banks’ record profits from sharply higher interest rates, sending European banking shares down 3.5%.
JPMorgan European Discovery Trust plc (LON:JEDT) is an investment trust company. The Investment Trust JEDT objective is to achieve capital growth from a portfolio of quoted smaller companies in Europe, excluding the United Kingdom.