European Stocks Close Higher Again

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Thursday, extending recent gains, amid continued optimism about further monetary easing by central banks. Despite worries about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats, investors picked up stocks, focusing on earnings and other corporate news.

In Davos, Trump reaffirmed his earlier promises of tax cuts, tariffs on trading partners, and increased energy production. He also urged the Federal Reserve and other major central bank to cut interest rates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.44%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.23%, Germany's DAX closed 0.74% up, and France's CAC 40 ended stronger by 0.7%, while Switzerland's SMI settled 0.47% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed higher.

Netherlands and Russia ended weak, while Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Poland and Turkiye closed flat.

In the UK market, Persimmon climbed nearly 4%. Taylor Wimpey, Natwest Group, ICG, Barratt Redrow, Centrica, Weir Group, Melrose Industries, Standard Chartered, Segro, Lloyds Banking Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Berkeley Group, British American Tobacco, Smiths Group, BAE Systems and United Utilities gained 1 to 3.2%.

Entain ended lower by about 4.25%. Associated British Foods closed nearly 3% down, after the company lowered its sales growth target for 2025.

Marks & Spencer, Smith & Nephew, Sainsbury (J), JD Sports Fashion, WPP, Scottish Mortgage, Croda International, Rio Tinto and Informa lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Siemens Energy rallied more than 6%. Fresenius Medical Care gained nearly 5%, and Zalando climbed 4.8%.

Fresenius, Brenntag, MTU Aero Engines, Rheinmetall, Commerzbank, Volkswagen, Continental, Deutsche Bank, Allianz, Deautsche Post, BASF and Siemens gained 1 to 3%.

Shares of sportswear maker Puma plunged 22.8% after the company announced a cost-cutting program after preliminary result showed a decline in operational profit. The operating result of € 109 million and the net income of € 24 million came in significantly above last year's levels, but below expectations.

Puma reported a currency adjusted sales growth of 9.8% to €2,289 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. On a full-year basis, sales grew by 4.4% to €8,817 million and in line with the outlook.

Qiagen closed nearly 3% down, while BMW, Infineon and Mercedes-Benz lost 0.7 to 1%.

In the French market, Societe Generale, Safran, Unibail Rodamco, ArcelorMittal, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Edenred, Saint Gobain, L'Oreal, Sanofi and AXA gained 1 to 2.3%.

Renault ended lower by nearly 2.5%. Vivendi, Teleperformance and Accor closed down 1 to 1.25%.

In economic news, Euro area consumer confidence grew for the first time in three months in January, but remained in the negative territory suggesting lingering pessimism, preliminary data from the European Commission showed on Thursday.

The flash consumer confidence index for Eurozone rose to -14.2 from -14.5 in December. The reading was in line with economists' forecasts.

The corresponding measure for the EU was steady at -13.3 in January after weakening in the previous two months.

Survey results from the statistical office INSEE revealed the French manufacturing sentiment index registered a score of 95 in January, down from 97 in December. The score was expected to drop to 96.

A report from the Confederation of British Industry showed that sentiment in the UK manufacturing sector dropped sharply to -47 in January 25, marking the steepest decline in over two years.

A separate report from the same bureau said factory orders in the UK decreased to 34 Net Balance in January 2025, over the previous month.