European stock markets were broadly higher Thursday, amid a flurry of earnings and economic data and rising hopes of an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The regional Stoxx 600 index maintained positive momentum from earlier this week, when it marked three record closing highs, gaining another 0.66% by 10:50 a.m. in London to hit another all-time intraday peak.
German technology conglomerate Siemens was among the top performers, up 6.2% after reporting better than expected first-quarter profits, despite a “significant decline” at its factory automation business.
However, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.8%, weighed down by declines in banking and oil and gas stocks. Shares of British bank Barclays were 5.8% lower, despite the lender posting a slight beat on full-year pre-tax profit and announcing a £1 billion ($1.25 billion) share buyback. Consumer goods giant Unilever was meanwhile down 7% on weaker sales growth figures than forecast.
Investors are also assessing figures from the Office for National Statistics which showed the U.K. economy grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, ahead of expectations for a 0.1% contraction.
“Fourth-quarter UK GDP wasn’t as bad as it could have been, though the details weren’t great … all of the increase in GDP across 2024 can be put down to population growth. GDP per capita actually fell slightly across the year,” ING developed markets economist, James Smith, said in a note.
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Global markets shed gains on Wednesday after a hotter-than-expected inflation print out of the U.S.
The consumer price index gained 0.5% for the month, taking the annual inflation rate to 3%, above the Dow Jones estimate of 2.9%. Core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, was also higher than forecast.
The inflation print has fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold for an extended time, and could push the next rate cut to September.
