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European Shares Mostly Higher Ahead Of ECB Meeting
(RTTNews) - European shares traded higher on Thursday as trade worries eased, and investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank's interest-rate decision and President Christine Lagarde's press conference later in the day for direction.
The central bank is likely to cut its interest rates again by 25 basis points as inflation softened amid weaker economic growth. The policy announcement is due at 8.15 AM ET.
The pan European STOXX 600 edged up by 0.3 percent to 557.50 after gaining 0.9 percent in the previous session.
The German DAX rallied 1.2 percent and France's CAC 40 added half a percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.7 percent.
Automakers Volkswagen, Stellantis and BMW rose 2-3 percent after U.S. President Donald exempted automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month.
Deutsche Post AG shares soared nearly 12 percent after the German postal company announced a reduction in its workforce.
Airline Air France-KLM jumped 14 percent as Q4 and annual results topped expectations.
Lufthansa Group surged 7.5 percent after saying it expects 2025 earnings to be significantly higher than last year.
Fashion retailer Zalando SE fell 1.2 percent despite more than tripling its annual profit in 2024.
French conglomerate Bouygues added 2 percent after posting annual core profit above estimates.
Consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser dropped 1.2 percent after missing fourth-quarter sales expectations.
Motor and home insurer Admiral Group jumped 7 percent after reporting a 90 percent jump in annual pre-tax profit.
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