European Shares Slip After Fed Decision; FTSE 100 Gains On Earnings

(RTTNews) - European stocks traded mixed on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled that it is poised to keep interest rates higher for longer.

Sentiment was also dented after a survey showed the ongoing downturn in euro zone manufacturing activity deepened in April.

HCOB's final euro zone manufacturing PMI, compiled by S&P Global, dropped to 45.7 in April from March's 46.1.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dipped 0.3 percent to 503.01 as trading resumed after the May Day holiday.

The German DAX was down 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 shed 0.3 percent.

U.K. stocks outperformed, with the FTSE 100 rising 0.4 percent as investors cheered strong earnings from the likes of Shell and Standard Chartered.

Shell rose 1.2 percent. The energy major launched a $3.5 billion share buyback program after beating first-quarter profit estimates.

Standard Chartered jumped 5.4 percent after the lender clocked a stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit on the back of higher interest rates and growth in its wealth management business.

Smurfit Kappa shares rallied 4.2 percent after the packaging producer reported robust first-quarter revenue of €2.7bn.

French office services and call center company Teleperformance surged more than 9 percent after quarterly revenue jumped 26.7 percent, boosted by its acquisition of Dutch rival Majorel completed last year.

German fashion retailer Hugo Boss lost 3 percent despite first-quarter profit coming in above expectations and the company guiding for growth over the year ahead.

Vestas, the world's largest maker of wind turbines, slumped 5.6 percent after reporting a surprise first-quarter loss.

Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk fell 2.8 percent despite posting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.