Major European Markets Close Lower On Rate Uncertainty, Growth Concerns

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed lower on Thursday as investors reacted to corporate earnings updates, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement that indicated interest rate in the U.S. will remain higher for a longer period.

On Wednesday, the Fed announced its decision to leave interest rates unchanged, citing a lack of further progress toward its 2% inflation objective in recent months.

A survey showing the ongoing downturn in euro zone manufacturing activity deepened in April weighed on sentiment. HCOB's final euro zone manufacturing PMI, compiled by S&P Global, dropped to 45.7 in April from March's 46.1.

The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.22%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.2% and 0.88%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.63%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.

Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden ended weak, while Austria and Netherlands ended flat.

In the UK market, Standard Chartered soared nearly 9% after the lender clocked a stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit on the back of higher interest rates and growth in its wealth management business.

Smurfit Kappa Group climbed 5.8% after the packaging producer reported robust first-quarter revenue of €2.7bn.

Prudential surged nearly 3.5%. Scottish Mortgage, Diploma, Flutter Entertainment, Taylor Wimpey, ICG, Mondi, Ocado Group, Berkeley Group Holdings, EasyJet, Segro, Auto Trader Group, JD Sports Fashion, Unite Group and RightMove gained 1.4 to 3%.

Shell gained about 1.5%. The energy major launched a $3.5 billion share buyback program after beating first-quarter profit estimates.

Whitbread, Beazley and Melrose Industries lost 2.9 to 3.1%. Kingfisher, Glencore, Antofagasta, DCC, Spirax-Sarco Engineering and Barclays Group shed 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Bayer rallied nearly 3%. RWE, Fresenius Medical Care, Qiagen, Beiersdorf and Deutsche Telekom gained 1 to 2%.

Infineon tumbled more than 4%. MTU Aero Engines, Zalando, Puma, Rheinmetall, Siemens Healthineers, Adidas and BASF lost 1 to 3%.

In Paris, Teleperformance soared nearly 14% after quarterly revenue jumped 26.7%, boosted by its acquisition of Dutch rival Majorel completed last year.

WorldLine shares surged about 10.2%. Worldline's first-quarter revenue rose to 1,097 million euros, representing a 2.5% organic growth.

Alstom and ArcelorMittal rallied about 4.5% and 3.2%, respectively. Renault, Societe Generale, Danone, Michelin, Legrand, Saint Gobain and Capgemini also posted notable gains.

Engie dropped more than 6%. Stellantis, TotalEnergies, Kering, STMicroElectronics, Eurofins Scientific, Carrefour, Air Liquide and Sanofi lost 1 to 4%.

In economic news, confidence among companies in Germany's automotive industry improved in April though they remained concerned about a lack of orders, a survey by the ifo institute showed.

The business climate for Germany's automotive industry rose to -1.5 points from -5.3 points in March, the think tank said.

France's manufacturing PMI fell to 45.3 in April, slightly up from the preliminary reading of 44.9, marking the fastest decline since January.

The Organization for Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD) lifted the global growth forecast for this year and next despite some substantial concerns about the outlook.

The Paris-based think tank raised the global growth forecast for this year to 3.1% from 2.9% projected in February. The outlook for next year was lifted to 3.2% from 3%.

The overall risks around the outlook are becoming better balanced, but substantial uncertainty remains, the OECD said.

The OECD forecast inflation to slow to 3.6% next year from 5.9% this year. The think tank expects inflation to be back on target in most major economies by the end of 2025.

Euro area GDP growth was projected to remain weak at 0.7% this year, and improve to 1.5% next year on the back of a recovery in domestic demand.