Major stock indexes in Europe finished the Wednesday session off with gains, as traders braced for the European Central Bank’s (ECB) meeting, scheduled for tomorrow. ECB is expected to go ahead with another unusually high interest rate hike as the battle against spiraling inflation continues.

The day was stacked with corporate earnings, with many of the companies reporting optimistic quarterly results, which seemingly prompted positive sentiment on the markets.

The DAX jumped 1.09% or 142 points at the closing bell, with Zalando shooting up 6.59%. At the same time, the CAC 40 rose 0.41% as Alstom surged 5.19%. The FTSE 100 added 0.61% at the close, with Antofagasta soaring 7.06%.

The euro went above parity for the first time in over a month, trading 1.03% higher against the dollar at 5:31 pm CET, selling for 1.00703. In addition, the pound was 1.24% up against the greenback to go for 1.16119 a minute later.