European stock indices are trading solidly higher on Thursday while investors are mostly “digesting” strong corporate reports after the U.S. Federal Reserve tempered expectations of a tough interest rate hike in the future.

By 03:40 am ET (07:40 GMT), Germany’s DAX index was trading 1.8% higher, France’s CAC 40 was up 1.9% and Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 1.1%.

European stock indices started the session on a positive note, following global sentiment after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that larger increases than the 50 basis point hike announced by the central bank on Wednesday were not being considered.

That allayed fears among some investors that the U.S. central bank would raise rates by 75 basis points at upcoming meetings, which could lead to a recession in the world’s largest economy.

On a day packed with corporate reports, the optimistic tone was boosted by some strong quarterly earnings.

Shell (LON:SHEL) shares rose 3% after the oil major reported record first-quarter profit of $9.13 billion, even after writing down $3.9 billion as a result of the company’s decision to cease operations in Russia, helped by higher oil and gas prices.

ArcelorMittal SA (AS:MT) shares rose 3.6% after the world’s second-largest steelmaker reported better-than-expected core earnings in the first quarter and increased its 2022 buyback program to $2.0 billion from $1.0 billion completed earlier.

Shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev (EBR:ABI) rose 3.4% after the world’s largest brewer reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings as consumers came to terms with higher prices.

Shares in Next (LON:NXT) rose 0.7% after the UK retailer reported a surge in first-quarter sales as its stores opened after the end of the pandemic.

Air France KLM (EPA:AIRF) shares rose more than 7% after the airline pointed to a successful summer season, helped by a rebound in ticket sales, while Deutsche Lufthansa (ETR:LHAG) shares rose 4.1% even after Germany’s national carrier reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as rising fuel prices wiped out revenue thanks to booming travel demand.

Meanwhile, Credit Agricole shares fell 2.8% after France’s second-largest listed bank reported a sharp fall in first-quarter profit after it set aside more than 0.5 billion euros in provisions for risks in both Russia and Ukraine.

Attention will also turn to the Bank of England, which is expected to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points, its fourth consecutive increase in an attempt to rein in rising consumer prices.

Oil prices rose on Thursday, following gains in the previous session after the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, outlined plans to eliminate its dependence on Russian crude.

The proposal, announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, includes phasing out Russian crude supplies in six months and oil products by the end of 2022.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies – a group known as OPEC+ – will meet a little later today and are expected to agree to raise June production targets by just over 400,000 barrels a day.

By 03:45 am ET (07:45 GMT), WTI crude futures were trading 0.1% higher at $107.85 a barrel, while the Brent contract was up 0.1% to $110.27 after both benchmarks rose more than $5 a barrel on Wednesday.

In addition, gold futures rose 1.4% to $1895.40 an ounce, while EUR/USD fell 0.3% to 1.0592.