European Stocks Close Higher As Investors Focus On Earnings

European stocks closed higher on Thursday, recovering from recent losses, as investors focused on earnings, digested the minutes from the European Central Bank’s latest policy meeting, and continued to monitor the updates from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Worries about accelerating inflation in several countries, and uncertainty about central banks’ interest rate tracjectory continued to render the mood cautious, and limited markets‘ upside.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.59%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.17%, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.83% and France’s CAC 40 jumped 1.13%, while Switzerland’s SMI ended 0.59% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden ended higher.

Belgium, Finland, Russia and Turkiye closed weak, while Denmark and Portugal ended flat.

In the UK market, Flutter Entertainment soared more than 15% following a 15% rise in fourth-quarter revenue.

Entain climbed about 6%. Rolls-Royce Holdings, St. James’s Place, Anglo American Plc, IHG and Kingfisher gained 2 to 3.4%.

Legal & General, Prudential, Ashtead Group, Howden Joinery, ICP, Melrose Industries, Taylor Wimpey, RS Group and Smith & Nephew advanced 1.5 to 1.8%.

Admiral Group, Centrica, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Smurfit Kappa Group, Ds Smith, Ocado Group, Vodafone Group, Unilever, British American Tobacco, GSK, Tesco and National Grid ended down 1 to 2.4%.

Shares of Watches Of Switzerland Plc plummeted 37% after the luxury watch retailer cut its FY24 revenue guidance.

In the German market, Infineon rallied nearly 5%. Siemens Energy climbed about 3.5%. MTU Aero Engines, Commerzbank, SAP, Vonovia, Zalando, Siemens, BASF, Brenntag and Deutsche Post gained 1 to 2.5%.

Bayer ended down 2%, and E.ON declined 1.7%.

In Paris, STMicroElectronics surged nearly 4%. Teleperformance, Safran, LVMH, Capgemini, Kering, Airbus Group, Renault and Dassault Systemes gained 2 to 3%. Schneider Electric, Essilor, Hermes International, WorldLine, AXA, Saint…