Europe open: Shares jump as Nvidia results boost sentiment

(Sharecast News) - European shares jumped at the open on Thursday as investors cheered better-than-expected results from US tech darling Nvidia and shrugged off concerns about a valuation bubble among artificial intelligence companies.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index surged by 0.94% at 0819 GMT to 566.92. All major bourses followed suit, with Germany's DAX up 0.73% and France's CAC 40 gaining 1%.

Shares in American semiconductor giant Nvidia jumped in after-hours trading overnight after the firm's hotly anticipated third-quarter figures blew past analysts' expectations, easing recent concerns that a potential bubble is brewing in the US-listed AI sector.

Revenues reached a record $57.0bn in the third quarter, up 22% from the second quarter and 62% higher than a year ago. This was comfortably ahead of the consensus estimate of $54.7bn.

Looking ahead, Nvidia also raised its guidance for the fourth quarter, targeting revenues of $65bn, ahead of the $62.1bn currently pencilled in by the market.

"Wall Street rallied into the close, and extended the run into after-hours trading, buoyed by Nvidia's upbeat outlook that soothed global jitters and gave investors the green light to pile back into the stock market. Whether the optimism sticks is anyone's guess - predicting market sentiment is as futile as calling the next Fed move," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown:

"Case in point, markets now lean heavily toward no change in US rates through year-end, a stark shift from just a few weeks ago and an underappreciated catalyst for the recent sell-off in risky assets. For now, fundamentals remain the anchor, and by that score, US markets are on solid ground."

In equity news, shares in Halma surged after the safety equipment maker lifted its interim dividend, citing continued confidence in its growth prospects after delivering a strong first-half performance across all sectors.

Miniature wargames manufacturer Games Workshop also jumped after reporting that core revenues for the six months ending November 30 were expected to be no less than �310m, up from �269.4m a year earlier.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com