European Markets Finish Mixed On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Unable to hold early gains, the major European stock markets ended in mixed fashion on Thursday following a late slide.

Earlier in the day, European stocks traded at record high levels as investors cheered upbeat earnings from the likes of Legrand, Hermes and Siemens.

But the late slump mirrored a soft open on Wall Street, led primarily lower by technology stocks and apprehension ahead of U.S. inflation data on Friday.

The DAX in Germany dipped 3.46 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 24,852.69, while the FTSE in London lost 69.67 points or 0.67 percent to close at 10,402.44 and the CAC 40 in France rose 27.32 points or 0.33 percent to end at 8,340.56.

In Germany, Heidelberg Materials plummeted 11.01 percent, while Deutsche Telekom surged 6.09 percent, Deutsche Post tumbled 4.88 percent, Deutsche Borse rallied 2.56 percent, Infineon Technologies slumped 1.75 percent, Deutsche Bank dropped 1.49 percent, Zalando sank 1.05 percent and BASF fell 0.50 percent.

In London, Schroeders skyrocketed 28.56 percent in huge volume, while Rentokil Initial plummeted 6.88 percent, Prudential tanked 6.80 percent, Airtel Africa stumbled 2.94 percent, Ashtead jumped 2.29 percent, Rolls-Royce slumped 1.76 percent, Experian climbed 1.39 percent, British American Tobacco lost 0.50 percent and Rightmove rose 0.39 percent.

In France, Danone surged 4.72 percent, while Societe Generale tumbled 1.81 percent, Vivendi retreated 1.54 percent, Carrefour jumped 1.37 percent, BNP Paribas slumped 1.20 percent, Engie dropped 1.12 percent, Veolia Environnement improved 1.03 percent and Credit Agricole fell 0.50 percent.

In economic news, the UK economy expanded marginally in the fourth quarter, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday. Gross domestic product grew 0.1 percent sequentially, the same pace of increase as seen in the previous quarter. This was slightly weaker than the forecast of 0.2 percent. On a yearly basis, GDP was up 1.0 percent compared to economists' forecast of 1.2 percent.

Hungary's consumer price inflation moderated more-than-expected in January to the lowest level in nearly eight years, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office said on Thursday. Consumer prices climbed 2.1 percent year-on-year in January, slower than the 3.3 percent rise in December. Economists had expected inflation to ease to 2.4 percent.

Poland's economic growth accelerated in the final quarter of 2025, Statistics Poland said Thursday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, gross domestic product climbed 1.0 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter, following a 0.9 percent stable expansion in the third quarter. On a year-on-year basis, GDP growth moderated to 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter from 4.0 percent in Q3.