European Stocks Close Higher On Earnings, Slightly Easing Worries About Recession

European stocks closed higher on Thursday as the mood remained positive thanks to some encouraging earnings updates and expectations of a milder-than-expected recession.

Investors also digested the latest batch of economic data from the region, and the U.S.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.62%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.33%, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.72% and France’s CAC 40 surged 0.96%, while Switzerland’s SMI ended 0.52% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended higher.

Spain edged up marginally, while Finland, Norway and Sweden closed weak.

In the UK market, Standard Chartered soared nearly 11.5%.

AstraZeneca rallied more than 4%. BP surged 2.34%, while Burberry Group, St. Jame’s Place, DCC, ABRDN, Ashtead Group, Legal & General Group, Hargreaves Lansdown and Barratt Developments gained 1 to 1.4%.

Entain tanked 14% after MGM Resorts CEO and president, Bill Hornbuckle ruled out a move for Entain.

Glencore, BT Group, British American Tobacco, Fresnillo, Endeavour Mining, Smith & Nephew, Compass Group, Segro, Experian, Convatec Group and Vodafone Group lost 1 to 4%.

In the German market, Siemens surged about 7%. Fresenius climbed nearly 4%. Siemens Energy, Infineon Technologies, HeidelbergCement, Daimler and Brenntag gained 2 to 3%.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Boerse, Adidas and Vonovia also ended notably higher.

Bayer drifted down more than 3%. Fresenius Medical Care dropped 2.8% and Symrise ended lower by about 2.2%.

Hannover Rueck, Siemens Healthineers, Linde, Qiagen, Sartorius and RWE lost 1 to 2%. Delivery Hero plunged more than 9% after the food-delivery firm reported slightly lower-than-expected gross merchandise value (GMV) for 2022.

In Paris, Credit Agricole surged 4.3% after reporting a higher-than-expected profit in the fourth quarter on lower provisions and a strong performance at its investment banking division.

Legrand and Stellantis gained 4% and 3.7%, respectively. Renault, Schneider Electric, STMicroElectronics, Kering, TotalEnergies, Vinci, Publicis Groupe, Saint Gobain, LVMH and ArcelorMittal gained 1 to 2.5%.

Essilor and Air Liquide both ended more than 1% down.

In the Swiss market, Credit Suisse tumbled 14.7% as the bank posted its worst annual loss since 2008 and warned of more losses this year.

In economic releases, preliminary data showed German inflation rose by a less than anticipated 8.7% year-on-year in January, helping ease pressure on the European Central Bank to keep raising rates.

Destatis was initially scheduled to release its January data last week but delayed the publication over an “unexpected technical problem”.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said he is concerned about the continued persistence of inflation but forecast the rate to ease sharply this year. At the Treasury Select Committee hearing, Bailey said policymakers are concerned about persistence of inflation. That is why the monetary policy committee raised the interest rate.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the British economy may avoid a recession this year, despite high prices hitting household budget.