By Nikhil Sharma and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -European shares reversed early declines to close higher on Thursday, with industrial stocks getting the biggest boost, while corporate earnings remained in the spotlight.
The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was up 0.6%. Most major regional indexes were higher, with Germany’s up 0.7%.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey, dealing a blow to prospects for a peace breakthrough.
Most defence stocks were higher, with Hensoldt up 8.8%, Rheinmetall up 5.7% and Leonardo gaining 4%. The broader aerospace and defence index in Europe was up 2.3%.
“This feels like a market that does want to go higher, but it’s going to be a bit more of a grind,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
Meanwhile, data in the U.S. showed a surprise fall in producer prices, and a slowdown in retail sales growth.
“There was an understandable degree of nervousness to see how things were faring and see if there was any sign there of inflation,” Beauchamp said.
“The data was benign… that is the most important thing (in this uncertain environment).”
France’s Engie, London’s National Grid and United Utilities jumped after their quarterly reports, and lifted the utilities sector 1.9%.
Telecommunication stocks were the biggest gainers, helped by a 2.8% increase in Deutsche Telekom after it reported first-quarter profit slightly above expectations.
Most sectors on the benchmark STOXX 600 were higher, although a pullback in commodity prices weighed on resource-linked companies.
Oil prices dropped more than 3% on the prospects of a potential U.S.-Iran nuclear deal that could boost supply.
Major oil firms bore the brunt, with BP and Amsterdam-listed Shell shares falling 3.3% and 1.5%, respectively. The energy underperformed peers, falling 0.9%.
Basic resources also incurred heavy losses, as industrial metal prices moved lower. [MET/L]
Sentiment has been positive this week, as global markets welcomed the U.S.-China trade truce and U.S. President Donald Trump’s investment deals from the Middle East. However, Trump has yet to announce deals with the European Union.
On the data front, a flash estimate showed gross domestic product rose slightly less-than-expected on an annual basis, while Britain’s economy grew better-than-expected in March from February.
Among single stocks, thyssenkrupp dropped 12.5% to the bottom of the STOXX 600, after the submarines-to-car parts group posted a plunge in its second-quarter operating profit.
Shares in Siemens fell 1%, with analysts attributing the decline to weaker-than-expected free cash flow, despite beating expectations for second-quarter results.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Purvi Agarwal; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Varun H K and Ed Osmond)
