European stocks rose after falling for two days

European stocks rose on Thursday, led by media and travel stocks, as signs of declining US inflation gave some relief to investors worried about the impact of the Federal Reserve’s tightening monetary policy.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.5% by 0822 GMT, after two straight days of losses.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq touched its highest level in more than eight months on Wednesday, boosted by a slightly smaller-than-expected increase in inflation figures for April, which revived hopes that the Federal Reserve would halt its rate-raising cycle in June.

ING Group rose 2.9 percent after the Dutch largest bank reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and announced a new share buyback program worth up to 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion).

Meanwhile, Bayer shares fell 5 percent as the German group said it was likely to bring its results at the lower end of its 2023 target range, affected by cost inflation and other factors.

Shares of mining and automobile companies led the declines among the European sectors, following the trading of shares of many companies, including Volkswagen, without the right to cash dividends.