European Stocks Close On Mixed Note After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday with investors digesting a slew of corporate earnings announcements, and continuing to assess the U.S. inflation data released on Wednesday.

The mood was largely cautious with investors looking for further directional clues.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.06%. France's CAC 40 gained 0.33%, Germany's DAX edged down 0.05% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.55%, while Switzerland's SMI settled flat.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.

Iceland and Russia ended weak, while Belgium and Sweden settled flat.

In the UK market, Entain, Coca-Cola HBC, Aveva Group, Flutter Entertainment, M&G, Shell and Melrose Industries gained 2 to 4%.

GSK plunged more than 10%. Haleon, Airtel Africa, Rio Tinto, AstraZeneca, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, B&M European Value Retail, Centrica and Antofagasta shed 2 to 5%.

In Paris, WorldLine rallied more than 3% and Veolia gained nearly 3%. Carrefour, Essilor, Faurecia and Vinci also ended with notable gains.

Sanofi declined 4.2%. Michelin shed about 2.8% and Accor drifted down 1.25%.

In the German market, Sartorius climbed 4.2%. HelloFresh surged 3.8% and E.ON gained about 3%. Zalando, MTU Aero Engines, Siemens Healthineers, Qiagen, Deutsche Wohnen, Symrise and Infineon Technologies also closed notably higher.

Covestro ened more than 3% down. BASF, Continental, Deutsche Boerse, Porsche Automobil and Vonovia ended lower by 1 to 2.3%.

Dutch financial insurance company Aegon jumped nearly 9% after raising its forecasts for full-year operating capital generation and 2021-2023 free cashflow.

On the economic front, UK house prices continued to increase across the UK due to the lack of supply, the Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed.

A net 63% of respondents said house prices increased in July. The balance was forecast to ease to 60%. The lack of supply was the crucial factor supporting the continued house price growth.

Although the balance was more moderate than a recent high of +78% in April, it was comfortably above the long run average of +13%. The score still indicates a firmly upward trend, RICS said.

In U.S. economic news today, a report from the Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand fell by 0.5% in July after surging by a revised 1% in June. The decrease marked the first drop in producer prices since April 2020.

The pullback came as a surprise to economists, who had expected producer prices to edge up by 0.2% compared to the 1.1% jump originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 9.8% in July from 11.3% in June. Economists had expected the annual rate of growth to slow to 10.4%.