European Shares Edge Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - European shares were mostly higher on Thursday despite worries over Fed independence and anxiety ahead of the impending deadline for U.S. President Trump's tariff deferrals.

In economic releases, German consumer confidence is set to drop in July after rising for three straight months as rising willingness to save offset the positive impetus provided by improved income prospects, a survey revealed.

The forward-looking consumer sentiment index fell unexpectedly to -20.3 in July from -20.0 in the previous month, according to a survey jointly published by the market research group GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions showed. The expected score was -19.1.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 percent at 538.27 after falling 0.7 percent on Wednesday.

The German DAX surged 0.8 percent, while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both were up around 0.1 percent.

3i Group shares rallied 3 percent. The investment manager said that its majority-owned business, Action, continued to perform "strongly", with like-for-like sales growth of 6.9 percent in the year to date.

Oil & gas giant Shell edged up slightly after denying plan to acquire BP Plc.

Tile retailer Topps Tiles gained 2.8 percent after naming a new CEO and interim CFO. Clothing retailer Next rose about 1 percent after reporting a strong performance in Q1 FY25 and lifting fiscal-year guidance for the second time.

Balfour Beatty, a construction and infrastructure group, added nearly 2 percent on winning an 833 million-pound ($1.14 billion) contract from French energy firm Technip Energies.

Fashion retailer H&M soared 5.2 percent after second-quarter profit beat expectations.