European stock markets rose on Wednesday, continuing their gains from the previous two days and reaching new record highs, with both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 indexes up.
Investor optimism was boosted by the high likelihood of the US government reopening soon and increasing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again.
Several companies provided good news: Infineon Technologies jumped 2.2% after predicting its revenue would start growing again next year; RWE added 3.5% after reporting better-than-expected profits; and Bayer rose 1.7% after its profit beat forecasts.
Luxury giant LVMH and bank Intesa Sanpaolo also saw their stocks hit recent or all-time high prices. The only notable drop was E.ON, which lost 1.5% despite confirming its profit forecast for the year.
On the FX front, the Japanese yen fell to a nine-month low against the U.S. Dollar on Wednesday, hitting 154.82 per dollar, which prompted Japanese officials, including Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, to try and stop the drop with verbal warnings.
The yen has fallen sharply since early October, largely because the market expects the new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, to increase government spending.
The US Dollar recovered slightly from its previous losses, rising 0.1% against other currencies.
Meanwhile, the British pound and the euro both dropped slightly, while the Australian dollar rose 0.2% and the New Zealand dollar was mostly flat.
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