European Shares Gain As Luxury Stocks Climb On China Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks advanced on Thursday despite worries about a U.S. recession and much uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's tightening campaign.

Investors also reacted to mixed regional data and looked ahead to the release of financial results from U.S. companies due later in the week for direction.

German consumer price inflation climbed 7.4 percent year-over-year in March, the lowest level in seven months and slower than the 8.7 percent rise in February, final data from Destatis revealed.

The latest inflation rate was in line with flash data published on March 30.

Data out of U.K. showed Britain's economy stagnated in February as a result of strikes by public workers.

Eurozone's industrial output rose by 1.5 percent sequentially in February versus 0.7 percent previous, the Eurostat said in its latest report.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent to 463.77 after closing 0.1 percent higher on Wednesday.

The German DAX was marginally higher, France's CAC 40 jumped about 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was little changed.

British bank Lloyds tumbled 3.2 percent and packaging firm Smurfit Kappa Group shed 2.4 percent on going ex-dividend.

Grocer Tesco rallied 2.3 percent after reporting a jump in annual sales.

High technology products group Oxford Instruments soared 5.5 percent after saying it was trading ahead of expectations for the full year.

Imperial Brands fell over 2 percent. The cigarette maker expects a drop in first-half revenue due to its exit from Russia.

Luxury giant LVMH surged 4.6 percent in Paris after its first-quarter revenue grew by 17 percent, more than double analysts' expectations, as China emerged from COVID lockdowns.

Kering SA rose 1.7 percent and Hermes climbed 3.2 percent after customs data showed Chinese exports rose for the first time in 6 months.

Total exports soared 14.8 percent year-on-year in March, the data showed, a sharp rise from last March when strict virus lockdowns crippled normal economic activity.