European Shares Hold Steady Ahead Of ECB Minutes

(RTTNews) - European stocks were seeing modest gains on Thursday after a survey showed the euro area economy continued to contract in November, albeit at a slower pace with improvements seen across all sectors.

Investors await the release of the minutes of the European Central Bank's October meeting for important clues on the rate outlook.

ECB Governing Council member Joachim Nagel indicated at an event in Milan that the European Central Bank might be nearing its terminal rate for interest rate hikes.

The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 percent at 457.92 after closing up 0.3 percent to touch a two-month high in the previous session.

The German DAX was marginally higher, while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both edged up around 0.2 percent.

Spanish utility Endesa declined 2.7 percent after cutting its profit and dividend outlook.

Stellantis N.V., a Dutch automaker, gained 1 percent after repurchasing 50 million common shares from Dongfeng Motor for about 934 million euros ($1.02 billion).

Ericsson lost about 1 percent. The Swedish ICT solutions provider has raised EUR 500 billion (USD 545.5m) through the issuance of a green bond.

Oil and gas shares advanced, with BP Plc climbing 1.1 percent and Shell adding 0.7 percent, despite oil extending overnight losses on concerns over delayed OPEC+ meeting.

Virgin Money UK fell 1.6 percent after reporting a drop in its annual profit.

Travel company Jet2 tumbled 3 percent after reporting its half-year results.

PZ Cussons rose 1.2 percent. The consumer goods company said its performance continues to be in line with the board's expectations and consistent with its fiscal 2024 outlook.