European Banks Resume Gains on Fed Move Amid Lower TLTRO Take-Up

(Bloomberg) -- After three consecutive days of losses, banks got some relief Thursday and lead share gains in Europe.

The Stoxx 600 Banks Index rose 1.8% as of 11:27 a.m. in London, as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled there might not be further rate cuts after the central bank lowered the main interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year. The Fed also said it will intervene again in money market rates if needed, as it did earlier this week.

European banks took-up 3.4 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in free long-term loans from the European Central Bank’s Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations Thursday. Demand from the 28 banks that took part was lower than expected.

Spanish lender Bankia SA is the largest gainer, advancing as much as 7.4%, most since early September. Irish lenders Bank of Ireland Group Plc and AIB Group Plc and Germany’s Commerzbank AG are also among the best performers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Macarena Munoz in Madrid at mmunoz39@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Beth Mellor at bmellor@bloomberg.net, Tom Lavell, Jon Menon

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