(Reuters) – German stocks led gains among European stocks at the open on Thursday, with Siemens stock rising after posting better-than-expected earnings as investors looked ahead to Britain’s new budget, the aim of which will be to restore confidence in the British economy.
The German DAX index rose 0.9 percent, while the European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.3 percent at 0810 GMT.
Siemens rose 7.2%, after the engineering and technology group also said strong demand for its factory hardware and software.
The European Industrial Goods Index rose 0.8%.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce spending cuts and tax increases later in the day. These are steps both Hunt and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said are necessary to restore investor confidence, after the previous government’s failed “mini budget” announced less than two months ago.
London’s FTSE 100 is down 0.2% ahead of the announcement, which is due at around 1130 GMT.
(Reporting by Shriyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza; Editing in Spanish by Dario Fernandez)
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