European shares rose on Thursday, May 23, after a strong outlook from artificial intelligence company Nvidia boosted shares of global chipmakers, while investors awaited the latest business activity surveys for insights on the euro zone economy and the path of interest rates.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2%, with the technology index rising 1.2% to lead sector gains.
European semiconductor stocks rose between 1.5% and 2.4% after Nvidia forecast higher-than-expected quarterly revenue, announced a stock split and raised its quarterly dividend by 150% on a post-split basis.
Sectors such as utilities and real estate declined, with shares in Britain's National Grid falling by about 8% after it announced plans to raise about 7 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) through a full rights issue.
The British FTSE100 index steadied after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on Wednesday for a general election to be held on July 4.
