European Stocks Close Slightly Higher After Volatile Session

European stocks finished slightly up on Thursday after a somewhat volatile session, with investors reacting to quarterly earnings announcements and updates on coronavirus cases and vaccines.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.1%. Germany’s DAC gained 0.33% and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.93%, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended lower by 0.63% and Switzerland’s SMI slid 0.5%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine closed higher.

Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden drifted lower, while Austria and Russia ended flat.

In the UK market, Fresnillo gained nearly 6.5%, rebounding from recent losses. IAG, Glencore, Anglo American, M&G, Kingfisher, Melrose, B&M, Evraz, JD Sports Fashion, Rolls-Roye Holdings, ICP and Antofagasta gained 1.75 to 5%.

Diageo gained about 4% after reporting a surprise rise in underlying net sales growth in the first half of the year and said it expects to see improvement in sales and profit in the second half of its fiscal year.

On the other hand, Prudential and Pearson both tumbled by about 7.8%. Prudential announced plans to spin off its U.S. business Jackson through a demerger, ditching plans for a minority IPO.

Imperial Brands, Ocado Group, Sage Group, Hargreaves Lansdown, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Pennon Group lost 2 to 4%.

In France, ArcelorMittal, STMicroElectronics, Renault, Pernod Ricard, Air France-KLM, Accor, Kering, Bouygues, Veolia, Vinci, Valeo, Publicis Groupe, Michelin and LVMH gained 2 to 5%.

Dassault Systemes, Unibail Rodamco, Sodexo and Teleperformance lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Lufthansa gained more than 6%. Thyssenkrupp ended nearly 5% up and Infineon Technologies gained about 4%. Bayer, Merck, HeidelbergCement and Munich also ended notably higher.

Adidas, SAP, MTU Aero Engines and Deutsche Wohnen ended lower by 1 to 2%. BMW ended modestly lower, parting most of its early losses. The automaker said that preliminary automotive free cash flow for the fourth quarter and the full year 2020 was above market expectations.

Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group ended lower by about 0.8%, recovering well after falling nearly 4% early on in the session after reporting its first annual loss in nearly 40 years.

In economic news, a report from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, or SMMT, showed UK car production declined to the lowest in 36 years in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, falling by 29.3% in the year.

Car production was down 2.3% to 71,403 in December, with some firms affected by border closures and thus component supply issues.

Survey results from the European Commission showed Eurozone economic sentiment weakened in January driven by sliding confidence in retail trade and services as Covid-19 containment measures remain in place.

The economic sentiment index fell less-than-expected to 91.5 from 92.4 in the previous month. The expected level was 89.5. The industrial confidence index rose unexpectedly to -5.9 from -6.8 a month ago. The reading was seen falling to -7.2.

Data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland’s exports declined 6.4% month-on-month in December, after a 5.6% growth in November.

Imports declined 6.7% monthly in December, after a 4.7% rise in the previous month. In nominal terms, exports fell 6.1% in December and imports decreased 7.1%.

Germany’s consumer price inflation turned positive in January for the first time in seven months, rising 1% year-on-year, after a 0.3% fall in December, flash data from Destatis showed. Economists had expected a 0.7% increase.