LONDON — European indexes were upbeat during midmorning trading on Wednesday, bolstered by optimism before the conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s penultimate interest rate decision of the year.
The FTSE MIB in Milan was ahead 1 percent to 22,595.69, the DAX in Frankfurt up 0.8 percent to 10,774.69, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.7 percent to 4,878.44 and the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.4 percent to 6,393.19.
The pound was trading at $1.53 and the euro was fetching $1.11 at 11:30 a.m. CET.
Retail and luxury stocks were predominantly higher, with those gaining the most ground including Mulberry, up 2.9 percent to 9.25 pounds; Bonmarché Holdings, 1.4 percent to 3.10 euros, and Inditex, 1.2 percent to 33.92 euros.
Among the shares on the decline was French Connection, down 1.4 percent to 0.36 pounds. Marks & Spencer fell 0.9 percent to 5.08 pounds after technical difficulties with its Web site on Tuesday evening, which meant that some shoppers logging in could see other people’s details and shopping history. Next slipped 0.9 percent to 78.75 pounds after it released its third-quarter interim statement showing lower-than-expected sales from its catalog, whose revenues gained 6.2 percent, due in part to a greater level of clearance stock.