European Shares Log Cautious Gains

European stocks were broadly higher on Thursday, though underlying sentiment remained cautious amid growing jitters about inflation. Yields on 10-year Treasuries were down in European trade as the dollar weakened.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.2 percent to 437.09 after tumbling 1.5 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX gained 0.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 index added 0.3 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 slid 0.3 percent in choppy trade as shares of a number of companies went ex-dividend.

German sugar producer Suedzucker lost 3.6 percent despite confirming a rise in full-year profits.

CTS Eventim EVD shares slumped 6.6 percent after the ticketing service reported an 89 percent drop in first-quarter revenue.

Telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom gained 1.2 percent after raising its annual profit growth outlook.

Bouygues shares edged up slightly in Paris. The conglomerate reported a smaller than expected first-quarter core loss and raised the full-year guidance for its telecoms division.

Tesco shares fell 2.7 percent in London on going ex-dividend.

Rail operator Trainline slumped as much as 24 percent after the government said it would digitize train-ticketing as part of an overhaul of its rail service.

Telecommunications company BT Group fell 1.4 percent after a brokerage downgrade.

Royal Mail tumbled 3.3 percent. The postal services company held back from providing a forecast for the current year, citing a number of uncertainties.

Budget airline EasyJet dropped 2.6 percent after reporting a wider half-year loss.

National Grid gained about 1 percent. The utility reported that its fiscal 2021 profit before tax climbed 19 percent to 2.08 billion pounds from last year’s 1.75 billion pounds.

Nordic Semiconductor surged 6 percent after an Italian daily reported that larger rival STMicroelectronics is mulling an offer to buy the Oslo-listed company.

On the economic front, Eurozone’s current account surplus in March decreased from the previous month, data from the European Central Bank showed.

The current account surplus dropped to EUR 18 billion from EUR 26 million in February. In the same month last year, the surplus was EUR 10 billion.

The goods trade surplus decreased to EUR 24 billion from EUR 33 billion in the previous month. The surplus in the services trade fell to EUR 8 billion from EUR 12 billion.

German producer prices increased 5.2 percent year-on-year in April, faster than the 3.7 percent rise seen in March, Destatis reported. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 5.1 percent.