European stocks closed on a positive note on Thursday thanks to fairly encouraging regional PMI data and firm precious metals prices. Bond yields and oil prices stabilized even as worries about Middle East tensions continued to weigh on sentiment.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.49%. The UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.7% and Germany’s DAX moved up 0.63%, while France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.07% and Switzerland’s SMI closed with a gain of 0.22%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher.
Türkiye closed weak, while Finland, Norway and Portugal ended flat.
In the UK market, Metlen Energy & Metal, Informa, LSEG, Endeavour Mining, Prudential, Relx, Fresnillo, 3i Group, Vodafone Group, Scottish Mortgage, M&G, Experian, Melrose Industries, Antofagasta, AutoTrader Group, Aberdeen Group, Airtel Africa, Barclays and Burberry Group gained 2%-4%.
Shares of food packing company Hilton Food soared more than 15% after the group lifted its full-year adjusted profit guidance.
Reckitt Benckiser, Convatec Group, Admiral Group, Haleon, Diageo, Bunzl, Pearson, Unilever, Aviva and Smith & Nephew closed notably lower.
In the German market, Volkswagen, Hochtief, Porsche Automobil Holding, Vonovia, Commerzbank, Siemens Energy, SAP and Scout24 climbed 2%-3.7%.
Deutsche Börse, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Continental, Hannover RE, Daimler Truck Holding and Munich RE also ended notably higher.
Rheinmetall, Fresenius Medical Care, Qiagen, Siemens Healthineers, Merck, Siemens, Zalando, Fresenius and Brenntag declined sharply.
The French market underperformed as the nation’s services sector activity showed continued contraction.
EssilorLuxottica, Hermes International, LVMH, Kering, L’Oreal, Accor, Sanofi, Pernod Ricard and Donone closed notably lower.
Capgemini, Publicis Groupe, Stellantis, Renault, Société Générale, ArcelorMittal, AXA, Teleperformance, Dassault Systèmes, Legrand, Crédit Agricole, Vinci, Michelin, BNP Paribas and Eurofins Scientific gained 1%-4.7%.
In economic news, the euro area private sector posted robust growth in August as the industrial economy gained momentum and services activity expanded for a second consecutive month, final survey data from S&P Global showed. However, France bucked the broad trend of growth, registering an eighth successive contraction in business activity.
The final composite output index posted 52.0 in August, unchanged from July’s eight-month high and slightly down from the flash score of 52.1. The services Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to a two-month low of 51.6 from 51.7 in July. The flash score was also 51.7.
