European Shares Struggle For Direction

European stocks swung between gains and losses on Thursday as inflation concerns persisted and earnings proved to be a mixed bag.

Traders remained focused on the ECB, which is due to release the minutes for its January meeting later in the day.

The pan European Stoxx 600 was marginally lower at 415.73 after losing 0.7 percent on Wednesday. The German DAX was little changed while France’s CAC 40 index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 slipped around 0.2 percent each.

Spanish energy group Repsol rose over 2 percent after its fourth-quarter adjusted net profit beat forecasts.

Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore climbed 2-3 percent as copper prices jumped to their highest in nearly a decade on concerns over a market deficit, driven by tight supply and strong demand.

Barclays Group tumbled 3.5 percent after its 2020 annual profit fell by half.

Smith & Nephew plunged 5.2 percent. The medical technology business reported that its fiscal 2020 profit before taxation declined to $246 million from last year’s $743 million.

Pharmaceutical company Indivior lost 2.5 percent. The company reported a fiscal 2020 net loss of $148 million compared to net income of $134 million, prior year.

Planemaker Airbus tumbled 3.7 percent after it posted a full-year operating loss of 510 million euros and withheld a divided.

Similarly, telecom company Orange slumped 4.5 percent after reporting a fall in annual profit.

Power group EDF gave up 2.1 percent after reporting a fall in profit for 2020.

Grocery giant Carrefour advanced 2 percent after saying its like-for-like sales growth in 2020 was the best in the last 20 years.

Bouygues gained 1 percent. The construction and media conglomerate said it expects its 2022 current operating profit to return to the same level of 2019.

MTU Aero Engines was down 4.1 percent. The aircraft engine manufacturer reported that its fourth-quarter net income plunged to 6 million euros from last year’s 134 million euros.

Automaker Daimler advanced 1.3 percent after reporting a rise in fiscal 2020 profit and lifting dividend.

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