Europe midday: Stoxx, FTSE 100 hit fresh intra-day highs

(Sharecast News) - European shares continued their rally this week, with the Stoxx and FTSE 100 both hitting fresh highs amid efforts to end the US government shutdown and a raft of corporate earnings. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.67%, having hit a fresh intra-day high of 583.4. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 9,887.42, having hit new highs earlier in the session, as the index sets its sights on the 10,000 level.

A vote in the US Senate to approve a compromise bill to resume funding until the end of January was passed on Monday. It still needs lower house and presidential approval.

In economic news, German inflation eased slightly last month to 2.3%, the federal statistics office ‌said on Wednesday, confirming ‍preliminary data.

On a harmonised basis compared with other European Union countries, inflation stood at 2.4% year-on-year in September.

On the equities front, shares in UK energy utility SSE surged after results.

Infineon Technologies also jumped after the German semiconductor firm raised its 2026 revenue target for power supply solutions used in AI data centres, driven by growing demand.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com