European markets move higher as Fed minutes point to September cut

LONDON — European stocks moved higher on Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve's latest comments on the future path of interest rates.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.50% by 10:52 a.m. London time, with all major bourses and most sectors in the green. Retail stocks added 1.26%, while mining stocks fell by 0.56%.

Shares of Swiss Re rose 3.11% after the insurer reported a 16% rise in first half net profits to $2.09 billion. Meanwhile, Aegon shares fell 5.71% after reporting a net loss of 65 million euros ($72.41 million) in the first half of this year.

It comes after the pan-European benchmark ended the day higher on Wednesday, with the majority of sectors in positive territory as markets rebounded after snapping a winning streak on Tuesday.

Fed minutes released Wednesday showed that officials had moved closer to a long-awaited interest rate cut during their July meeting, with the vast majority of participants agreeing that a reduction was "likely" come September if the data "continued to come in as expected."

U.S. stock futures were marginally lower Thursday morning as investors looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday.

In Asia, markets were mixed as investors digested business activity data from Australia and Japan and awaited PMI numbers from India.

Back in Europe, the U.K. and European Union release purchasing managers index data on Thursday.