European Stocks Close Broadly Higher As Investors React To Earnings

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Wednesday, recovering from recent losses, as investors largely reacted to quarterly earnings updates and made stock specific moves.

Markets also digested the latest batch of economic data. Federal Reserve's Chair Jerome Powell's much awaited speech did not provide any clues about the central bank's interest-rate path as he refrained from specifically addressing monetary policy and focused his remarks on praise for the work by the Fed's Division of Research and Statistics.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.28%. Germany's DAX surged 0.51% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.69%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.11%, while Switzerland's SMI advanced 0.23%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.

Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands and Poland ended weak, while Czech Republic, Portugal, Russia and Sweden closed flat.

In the UK market, Carnival and Rolls Royce Holdings climbed 3.5% and 3%, respectively. 3i, Entain, Associated British Foods, IAG, CRH, EasyJet, Flutter Entertainment, TUI, Compass, Hiscox, Diageo and Burberry Group gained 1 to 2.5%.

Marks and Spencer jumped 10% after reporting a significant increase in its half-year statutory pre-tax profit for 2023.

ITV ended more than 6% down. Hargreaves Lansdown, National Grid, Centrica, SSE, Pennon, BT, Vodafone, Fresnillo and Smurfit Kappa lost 1 to 2.5%.

In the German market, Continental surged 4% after reporting higher earnings and slightly raising its outlook for the tires business.

Deutsche Post, Fresenius, HeidelbergCement, Fresenius Medical Care, Symrise, Siemens Healthineers, Commerzbank, Munich RE, Mercedes-Benz and MTU Aero Engines gained 1 to 3%.

Zalando drifted down 3.7%. Siemens Energy ended lower by 2.3%, while Vonovia, Adidas, RWE and E.ON lost 1 to 2%.

In Paris, Teleperformance, L'Oreal and Sanofi gained 2.1 to 2.7%. Hermes International rallied nearly 2%. Safran, Edenred, Unibail Rodamco, Stellantis, Michelin, Credit Agricole, Renault and LVMH gained 1 to 1.5%.

Veolia, Legrand, Engie, Capgemini, TotalEnergies, Carrefour, Societe Generale and Publicis Groupe ended weak.

On the economic front, Germany's consumer price inflation slowed sharply in October to hit the lowest in more than two years, final data from Destatis showed.

The consumer price index, or CPI, rose 3.8% year-on-year, following a 4.5% increase in the previous month. This was the lowest rate since August 2021 and matched the flash estimate published on October 30.

France's trade gap widened to a five-month high in September, rising to EUR 8.92 billion from EUR 8.33 billion in the previous month, data from Customs Office showed. This was the biggest shortfall since last April. In the same period last year, the deficit was EUR 17.33 billion.

Exports posted a monthly drop of 2.8% in September. At the same time, imports decreased 1.4%. Year-on-year, exports and imports slid 2.3% and 13.1%, respectively.

Euro area retail sales slump slowed in September as the deeper fall in the non-food segment was partially offset by the rebound in food sales, but the data cast doubt over the ability of household spending to contribute to economic output. Retail trade dropped 0.3% month-on-month in September, which was slower than August's revised 0.7 percent decline, figures from Eurostat showed Wednesday.