European Stocks Close Higher Again

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Thursday, extending recent gains, as easing worries about a banking crisis and data showing a slowdown in inflation in Germany lifted sentiment.

Strong earnings update from Swedish retail giant H&M, and data showing Spanish inflation cooled to a twenty-month low in March on lower energy prices, helped as well.

Investors shrugged off separate data showing that a measure of Eurozone economic sentiment unexpectedly fell in March.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.03%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.74%, Germany's DAX surged 1.26%, France's CAC 40 advanced 1.06%, and Switzerland's SMI gained 0.63%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended with strong gains.

Russia closed modestly higher, while Turkiye ended weak.

In the UK market, Ocado Group zoomed 10.3%. Land Securities Group, JD Sports Fashion, SSE, Unite Group, IAG, British Land, Segro, Entain, Burberry Group and Endeavour Mining gained 3 to 4.5%.

Sainsbury (J), Fresnillo, Whitbread, Persimmon, Covatec Group, M&G, Beazley, Prudential, Halma, RS Group and Melrose Indsutries surged 2 to 3%.

Petrofac shares soared nearly 68%. The energy services firm and technology group Hitachi Energy have sealed a €13bn ($14.1bn) framework deal with Dutch-German transmission system operator TenneT to supply offshore platforms and onshore converter stations.

Phoenix Group Holdings drifted down 4.1%. Aviva, Taylor Wimpey, ABRDN, Mondi and BAE Systems also ended notably lower.

In the German market, Adidas, Infineon Technologies, Zalando and Vonovia surged 5 to 6%. Continental gained more than 3.5%.

Commerzbank, Siemens Healthineers, Puma, Siemens Energy, Fresenius Medical Care, Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen and Covestro climbed 1.7 to 3%.

In Paris, Unibail Rodamco rallied nearly 4.5%. Societe Generale, Dassault Systemes, Capgemini, Schneider Electric, Teleperformance, Engie, Veolia, Essilor and BNP Paribas gained 2.2 to 3.2%.

In the Swedish market, shares of retail giant Hennes & Mauritz soared 16.3% after the company reported a surprise operating profit for the December-February period.

In economic news, Germany's consumer price inflation eased markedly in March as the sharp increase in energy prices seen over the same period last year dropped out of the annual comparison, flash estimate from Destatis showed.

Consumer prices increased 7.4% year-on-year in March but this was notably weaker than the 8.7% increase registered in February.

Flash estimates from the statistical office INE showed consumer price inflation in Spain eased in March to the weakest since August 2021 due to falling electricity and fuel prices but core inflation remained sticky.

Consumer prices climbed at a much slower pace of 3.3% from the last year, following the 6% increase in February. The latest rate was the lowest since August 2021 when it was at the same level. Prices were expected to advance 3.8%.

Eurozone economic sentiment weakened slightly in March, with the economic confidence index unexpectedly falling to 99.3, from 99.6 a month earlier. The score was forecast to rise to 99.8.

Meanwhile, a measure signalling future turning points in the Swiss economy decreased unexpectedly for the first time in four months in March, dropping by 0.7 points from February to 98.2, results of a survey by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute showed.