European Stocks Close Higher On Bargain Hunting, Strong Earnings Updates

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Wednesday, due largely to bargain hunting at scores of counters after the setback in the previous session due to hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer price inflation data.

A somewhat tame UK inflation data, and some encouraging corporate earnings updates helped as well in prompting investors to pick up stocks.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.5%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.75%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.38% and 0.68%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI settled higher by 0.64%.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Iceland and Portugal ended weak, while Austria, Belgium, Finland, Russia and Spain settled flat.

In the UK market, Coca-Cola HBC shares surged 8% after the company reported a 17% jump in comparable operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $1.16 billion.

JD Sports Fashion, Frasers Group, BT, Natwest Group, Melrose Industries, Rentokil Initial, Tayloer Wimpey, Ocado Group, Vodafone, Convatec Group, Legal & General and Barratt Developments gained 2 to 3.1%.

Airtel Africa, Relx, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Experian, NEXT, B&M European Value Retail, HSBC Holdings, Aviva, Howden Joinery, RS Group and Flutter Entertainment also posted sharp gains.

Entain drifted down 3.4%. Endeavour Mining ended 2.1% down, while Anglo American, United Utilities, BP and Fresnillo lost 1 to 1.25%.

In the German market, Fresenius Medical Care, Puma, Adidas and Fresenius gained 2.5 to 4.3%. MTU Aero Engines, Merck, Zalando, SAP, BASF, Infineon and Brenntag ended higher by 1 to 1.6%.

Delivery Hero soared 20%. The online food company said it expects its organic cash flow generation to be more than sufficient to settle bond and debt maturities.

Shares of industrial services provider Bilfinger rallied 10% after bagging a large-scale maintenance contract from INEOS for the Forties Pipeline System.

Thyssenkrupp shares plummeted more than 10% after the engineering and steel conglomerate cut its full-year sales and profit targets, citing weakening demand and impairment losses in its fiscal first quarter.

RWE, Porsche, Qiagen, Siemens Energy and HeidelbergCement lost 1 to 1.2%. Volkswagen, Hannover Rueck, E.ON and Beiersdorft also ended weak.

In Paris, Capgemini rallied 7%. The IT consulting group reported solid results in 2023 despite the weak economic environment.

Thales gained about 4%. Schneider Electric, WorldLine, Michelin, Eurofins Scientific, Safran, Alstom, Kering, Publicis Groupe, Renault and Essilor gained 1 to 2%.

Shares of Dutch lender ABN AMRO soared nearly 8%. The firm unveiled a fresh share buyback after reporting fourth-quarter net interest income slightly above expectations.

On the economic front, the U.K. consumer price index advanced 4% on a yearly basis, the same rate as seen in December, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The rate was forecast to rise to 4.1%. .

Month-on-month, the CPI fell 0.6%, in contrast to the 0.4% increase in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 0.3% drop.

The euro area economy flatlined at the end of 2023 as initially estimated, data from Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product posted nil growth in the fourth quarter after shrinking 0.1 percent in the preceding period.

At the same time, GDP gained 0.1% after stagnating the third quarter. Both quarterly and annual figures matched the flash estimate published on January 30. The EU27 economy grew 0.1% on quarter and advanced 0.3% from the same period last year.