European Markets Rallied After Comments From Mario Draghi

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Thursday's session with substantial gains. The markets began to rally after comments made by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, which suggested that further stimulus measures could be coming in the near future.

The European Central Bank left its key interest rates unchanged at a record low on Thursday for a tenth policy session in a row. The Governing Council, led by ECB President Draghi, held the refinancing rate at 0.05 percent, following the meeting in Malta. The decision was in line with economists' expectations.

The bank also kept the deposit rate unchanged at -0.20 percent and the marginal lending rate at 0.30 percent. Previously, the three main interest rates were lowered by 10 basis points in September 2014.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has set the stage for a possible stimulus expansion in December as policymakers are increasingly concerned over the deteriorating growth and inflation outlook for the euro area.

ECB policymakers held a very "rich discussion" regarding the various monetary policy tools that included interest rate cuts, Draghi said on Thursday, while responding to questions from reporters during his customary press conference following the rate-setting session in Malta.

"The strength and persistence of the factors that are currently slowing the return of inflation to levels below, but close to, 2 percent in the medium term require thorough analysis," Draghi said in his introductory statement to the press conference.

"In this context, the degree of monetary policy accommodation will need to be re-examined at our December monetary policy meeting, when the new Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections will be available."

More significantly, Draghi said the current stance of the Governing Council was not "wait-and-see", but more "work-and-assess". He also said that some policymakers wanted stimulus action on Thursday, but added that it was not the general sentiment in the rate-setting body.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 2.47 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 2.45 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 2.48 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 2.28 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. gained 0.44 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 2.17 percent.

In Frankfurt, Volkswagen gained 3.29 percent on reports the scandal-hit car giant has halted the sales of its diesel vehicles equipped with "defeat devices" in Europe.

Daimler rose 3.38 percent after the luxury car giant reported record unit sales and revenue in the third quarter.

Vonovia increased 6.43 percent. Deutsche Wohnen reaffirmed that it is refusing the unsolicited attempt from Vonovia SE, stating that the offer does not reflect its NAV growth potential and the high quality of its real estate portfolio. Deutsche Wohnen added 5.21 percent.

LEG Immobilien also advanced 8.76 percent, after the termination of business combination agreement with Deutsche Wohnen.

Comdirect Bank rose 4.12 percent after reporting a 17 percent rise in pretax profit for the first nine months of 2015.

In Paris, advertising giant Publicis sank 7.03 percent after cutting its full-year revenue outlook.

Orange climbed 7.54 percent, after posting better-than-expected revenue for the third quarter and lifting its 2015 earnings target.

In London, Travis Perkins dropped 5.56 percent. The company reported that its Group sales grew by 5.5% during the third quarter. Sales were up 2.6% on a like-for-like basis. General Merchanting sales grew by 3.3% in the third quarter, 1.7% on a like-for-like basis.

BP gained 2 percent, after it and China National Petroleum Corporation entered into a framework agreement on strategic cooperation covering potential shale gas exploration and production in the Sichuan Basin and future fuel retailing ventures in China and other international partnerships.

Novozymes surged 10.81 percent in Copenhagen, after the enzyme maker reported third-quarter results, broadly in line with estimates.

Eurozone consumer confidence weakened for a second straight month to its lowest level in nine months in October, preliminary estimates from the European Commission showed Thursday. The flash consumer confidence index fell to -7.7 from -7.1 in September. Economists had expected a -7.4 score.

French manufacturing confidence dropped in October, in line with expectations, figures from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. The manufacturing confidence index fell to 103.0 in October from 104.0 in September. The figure was also matched with consensus estimate. However, the index remained above its long-term average of 100.0.

U.K. retail sales climbed at a faster-than-expected pace in September, the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. Retail sales including automotive fuel grew 1.9 percent month-over-month in September, exceeding economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent rise.

While the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended October 17th, the uptick was smaller than economists had expected. The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 259,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 256,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 265,000 from the 255,000 originally reported for the previous week.

After reporting a steep drop in U.S. existing home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Thursday showing that existing home sales rebounded by much more than expected in September.

NAR said existing home sales jumped 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.55 million in September from a slightly downwardly revised 5.30 million in August. Economists had expected existing home sales to climb to a rate of 5.35 million from the 5.31 million originally reported for the previous month.

Partly reflecting recent weakness in stock markets, the manufacturing sector and housing permits, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing a modest drop by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators.

The Conference Board said its leading economic index edged down by 0.2 percent in September after coming in unchanged in August and July. Economists had been expecting another unchanged reading.