European Markets Finished With Mixed Results

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Thursday's session with mixed results, following the weak performance of the previous two days. Energy stocks continue to struggle following the recent collapse in crude oil prices. Miners were also under pressure due to falling copper prices.

Eurozone's solid growth momentum is set to continue in the second quarter, mainly driven by domestic demand, and there are signs of a build-up of pipeline inflationary pressures, the European Central Bank said in its latest economic bulletin released on Thursday.

"Overall, incoming data point to solid growth in the second quarter of 2017," the bank said.

The 19-nation economy expanded 0.6 percent in the first three months of the year after 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.

"The euro area economy has now expanded for four consecutive years and growth has become increasingly resilient as it has broadened across sectors and countries," the ECB said in the report.

"Euro area growth is supported primarily by domestic demand, although tailwinds from the external environment have increasingly lent support to the outlook," the bank said.

The European Central Bank will decide to wind down its government bond purchases based on inflation even if the spreads for any country would rise as a consequence, ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet said.

"As a central bank, we conduct monetary policy for the whole of the euro area," Praet, who is also the ECB chief economist, said in an interview to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

"If the spreads for a particular country rise, that's not a monetary policy problem."

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.05 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.04 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.29 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.15 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.15 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.11 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.73 percent.

In Frankfurt, Fresenius Medical Care climbed 1.53 percent and Fresenius added 1.03 percent. Merck KGaA also rose 2.79 percent.

Commerzbank fell 0.60 percent and Deutsche Bank slipped 0.43 percent.

In Paris, Vinci lost 0.63 percent on a Bloomberg report that the construction firm is weighing an offer for a controlling stake in Paris airport operator ADP.

In London, Imagination Technologies Group soared 16.40 percent after the company, which is in dispute with Apple, has put itself up for sale.

Shire rallied 3.72 percent after it secured FDA approval for its new long-acting ADHD drug.

GlaxoSmithKline advanced 2.32 percent and AstraZeneca added 2 percent.

France's manufacturing confidence dropped slightly in June, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. The manufacturing sentiment index fell to 108.0 in June from 109.0 in May. The reading was above its long-term average of 100. The reading for May was the highest since June 2011.

UK total order books strengthened to a near three-decade high in June, the Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday. The total order books rose to +16 percent in June, the highest since August 1988. At the same time, the export order book balance came in at +13 percent, the strongest since June 1995.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest increase in the week ended June 17th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 241,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 238,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 240,000 from the 237,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Reflecting widespread improvement, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing that its index of leading U.S. economic indicators rose in line with economist estimates in the month of May. The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed by 0.3 percent in May after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2 percent in April.

Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.