European Shares Rise As German Factory Orders Surge

(RTTNews) - European shares advanced on Thursday to hover near record levels as trade war fears eased and data showed Germany's factory orders rebounded at a much stronger than expected pace in December, largely driven by the manufacture of transport equipment.

New orders increased 6.9 percent month-on-month in December, reversing a revised 5.2 percent fall in November, Destatis reported earlier today. Orders were forecast to grow only 1.9 percent.

The euro was subdued against the dollar ahead of the release of Eurozone retail sales data later in the day.

The British pound stabilized against its major peers ahead of the Bank of England's interest-rate decision, with markets pricing in a 25-bps reduction.

The pan European STOXX 600 jumped 0.6 percent to 541.63 after rising half a percent on Wednesday.

The German DAX added 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 edged up 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose over 1 percent.

French liquor group Pernod Ricard rallied 2.4 percent despite lowering its expectations for its fiscal year.

Societe Generale soared 8 percent after the lender doubled its profits in the fourth quarter on higher revenues.

Dutch bank ING Group lost 3 percent after saying it does not expect its annual total income to grow in 2025.

Volvo Car AB plunged 7 percent. The company reported a fall in fourth-quarter operating profit and predicted a turbulent 2025 amid weak demand and trade tensions.

ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steelmaker, jumped nearly 4 percent as Q4 earnings surpassed expectations.

Siemens Healthineers surged 5.5 percent as the medical technology company reported Q1 revenue above consensus and confirmed its FY25 outlook.

Mining giant Anglo American rose almost 5 percent after reporting a solid operational performance for the fourth quarter of 2024.

AstraZeneca shares gained 5 percent. The drug maker reported better-than-expected profit and sales in the fourth quarter amid strong sales of cancer, lung and immunology treatments.

Danish shipping firm Maersk soared 8.6 percent after fourth-quarter profit topped forecasts.