European Stocks Close Broadly Higher

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly higher on Wednesday, reacting positively to somewhat dovish comments from the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and digesting a slew of quarterly earnings updates.

Powell struck a less hawkish tone than feared in a question-and-answer session at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

Powell said that the disinflationary process has begun but it has a long way to go.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.28%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100, which scaled a record high today, ended 0.26% up. Germany's DAX surged 0.6%, while France's CAC 40 gave up gains and ended 0.18% down. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.48%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway, Poland and Spain ended higher.

Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Sweden closed weak.

In the UK market, BT Group and BP surged 3.33% and 3.25%, respectively. Next, Persimmon, Hiscox, Barratt Developments and AstraZeneca gained 1.5 to 2%.

ABRDN, Flutter Entertainment, HSBC Holdings, Rentokil Initial, Rolls-Royce Holdings, WPP, Beazley and Taylor Wimpey gained 1 to 1.4%.

Smith (DS) drifted down 4%. Smurfit Kappa Group ended 3.3% down. The company reported a rise in profit in 2022, but box volumes were down around 2 percent against a strong prior year.

while Mondi and RS Group lost 2.28% and 2.17%, respectively.

Scottish Mortgage, Haleon, Sainsbury (J), Anglo American Plc, DCC, Fresnillo, Kingfisher and Melrose Industries ended lower by 1 to 1.5%.

In Paris, BNP Paribas gained about 2.5%. Engie, Sanofi, Air Liquide and Thales ended higher by 1.4 to 2%.

Societe Generale tumbled more than 5%. The lender reported that its fourth-quarter Group net income fell 35.1 percent to 1.16 billion euros from last year's 1.79 billion euros.

Saint Gobain ended lower by about 4.7%, while Hermes International, WorldLine, Schneider Electric and Kering lost 1 to 1.7%.

TotalEnergies ended notably lower after reporting a decline in earnings for the fourth quarter.

In the German market, Bayer rallied more than 6%. Linde climbed 3.1% and Fresenius Medical Care gained about 2.1%.

E.ON, Siemens Energy, Fresenius, Siemens Healthineers, Merck, Porsche, Deutsche Bank and Qiagen advanced 1 to 1.7%.

Sartorius, Volkswagen, HeidelbergCement, Infineon Technologies and Zalando lost 1 to 2%.

Flash data from INSEE showed France payroll employment remained unchanged at the end of the year as weak economic activity dampened job creation particularly in market services.

Private payroll employment held steady in the fourth quarter, following a 0.6% rise in the third quarter, the data showed.

Ongoing economic uncertainty coupled with the cost pressures forced the British employers to take a more cautious approach on staff hiring, a survey report compiled by S&P Global showed Wednesday.

Permanent staff appointments declined for the fourth consecutive month, albeit at a weaker pace as firms often preferred to take temporary staff to fill vacancies, the KPMG/REC Report on Jobs, based on the responses of around 400 consultancy firms, revealed. As a result, temporary billings grew the most since last September.