Investing.com – European stock markets rose on Wednesday, supported by a rally in technology stocks on Wall Street overnight, although gains were capped by weakening regional confidence and political uncertainty.
As of 3:10 a.m. ET (0710 GMT), the index in Germany rose 0.7%, the index in France rose 0.5% and the index in the United Kingdom rose 0.3%.
Nvidia’s rebound helps the tone
European stock indexes rose, continuing the positive tone seen in Asia earlier in the session and on Wall Street overnight, following a rebound in stocks of major chipmakers, most notably Nvidia (NASDAQ:).
Nvidia, the dominant supplier of AI hardware and software, surged more than 6%, halting a three-session slide that had wiped about $430 billion from its market value.
The Big Tech sector has been behind many gains on Wall Street over the past year or so, with Nvidia briefly becoming the most valuable company in the world.
German consumer sentiment drops
However, gains are limited and end-of-quarter caution limits significant moves.
Furthermore, the first round of voting in France’s snap election is scheduled for the weekend and a strong showing by the far-right National Rally party could easily dent sentiment.
Additionally, the site is set to fall slightly in July, ending a four-month streak of increases, according to a survey on Wednesday.
The consumer sentiment index, published jointly by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions, unexpectedly fell to -21.8 in July, from a slightly revised -21.0 in June.
Volkswagen (ETR:) invests in Rivian
In the corporate sector, Volkswagen (ETR:) shares fell 1.6% after the German auto giant announced plans to invest about $5 billion in Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:), an American electric vehicle manufacturer, in a joint venture that will give it access to the start-up’s technology.
Zurich Insurance (SIX:) shares rose 0.2% after the Swiss company announced a $600 million deal to buy AIG’s (NYSE:) personal travel insurance and assistance business.
Crude oil rises despite rising inventories in the United States
Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday despite a surprise increase in US inventories, boosted by geopolitical risks from the Middle East conflict and confidence in the summer season.
At 3:10 a.m. ET, the futures (WTI) was up 0.6% at $81.31 a barrel, while the contract rose 0.5% to $84.66 a barrel.
Data from , released on Tuesday, showed US oil inventories rose by about 0.9 million barrels in the week to June 21.
This was a surprise given expectations for a 3 million barrel drop, but was largely overlooked as traders expect inventories to fall in the third quarter’s peak demand season.
Official data is expected later in the session.
Both contracts are still rising sharply over the past two weeks, as lingering geopolitical tensions – Israeli attacks on Gaza and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries – have caused traders to price a risk premium on oil prices.
