A stock trader stares at a monitor in the trading room of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Concerns about a new coronavirus variant in southern Africa are hitting the German stock market hard.
Arne Dedert | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
LONDON — European stock markets rose on Thursday as regional market sentiment remained subdued.
pan-european Stocks 600 ended the day up 0.1%, with the region’s major stock exchanges and sectors showing mixed performance.
Stocks of major cosmetics companies loreal After the company reported its best quarterly growth in two years on Thursday, it closed at 9%, marking its best day since November 2008.
nokia Shares rose 6.4% after the Finnish telecommunications company reported strong first-quarter results. The group’s net sales rose 4% year-on-year and operating profit rose 54% year-on-year to 281 million euros ($328.8 million), exceeding analyst expectations.
Nokia President and CEO Justin Hotard told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday that the company is capitalizing on long-term structural growth opportunities in AI, particularly in optical networks.
meanwhile, serve Shares rose 3.8% even as the defense giant reported first-quarter orders of SEK 18.2 billion, down 5% year-on-year.
Military hardware makers said large orders fell in the three months to March, but medium-sized orders rose.
Sales were lower than expected at SEK 19.1 billion, but organic sales increased by 23.6%. Operating profit for the quarter rose 32% year-on-year to SEK 1.92 billion, exceeding expectations compiled by LSEG.
International Energy Agency Director-General Fatih Birol has warned that the world faces “the greatest energy security threat in history”.
Speaking to CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at this year’s CNBC CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore on Thursday, Birol warned of “difficult days” for European jet fuel supplies as a result of the Iran conflict. The IEA chief said if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, countries may need to reevaluate their energy trading partners and trade routes.
International benchmark Brent crude rose almost 0.9% to $102.88 a barrel on Thursday after media reports that the United States had seized at least three Iranian oil tankers in Asian waters. This increased uncertainty about the possibility of a protracted conflict in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, new data from the Office for National Statistics shows UK government borrowing fell by around £20bn to £132bn in the financial year ending March 2026. Gold yields initially fell in response, but reversed after new PMI data showed a sharp rise in inflationary pressures.
Sentiment was also dampened after Germany cut its 2026 economic growth forecast by half, with officials expecting Europe’s largest economy to grow by just 0.5% this year. The GDP forecast for 2027 has been revised downward from 1.3% to 0.9%.
Germany’s economy ministry cited the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as reasons for the downgrade, saying it was causing rising costs for households and businesses in the country. Officials expected inflation to rise to 2.7% this year and 2.8% next year.
Stock prices in Japan and South Korea hit record highs overnight, but Asia-Pacific markets retreated into negative territory following reports of an Iranian tanker intercept. S&P 500 futures were little changed Wednesday night.
It’s another busy day for earnings in Europe. Roche, nestle, SAP, sanofi, vinci, LSEG, orange, heineken, STMicroelectronics, Dassault Systèmes and renault Among the companies that reported Thursday.
Data releases include new car registration flash services and manufacturing PMI for the Eurozone, UK and EU.
