European Stocks Close Higher Again

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Thursday, extending recent gains, even as interest rate concerns resurfaced after data showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. producer prices in the month of December.

Data from the Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.7% in January after edging down by a revised 0.2% in December. Economists had expected producer prices to increase by 0.4% compared to the 0.5% drop originally reported for the previous month.

Following the consumer price inflation and retail sales data released earlier this week, the report added to worries about the outlook for interest rates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.19%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX both advanced 0.18%, while France's CAC 40 climbed 0.89%. Switzerland's SMI drifted down 0.69%. The FTSE 100 and CAC 40 scaled new record highs, and the DAX hit a new 1-year high.

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

Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Poland and Russia ended weak, while Belgium, Greece and Sweden closed flat.

In the UK market, Centrica rallied 5.72% after the company said it will extend its share buyback program by 300 million pounds.

Standard Chartered climbed 4.1% after the lender announced a new $1 billion share buyback. The bank reported a 28% surge in annual pretax profit.

BT Group surged 2.86%. Burberry Group, Vodafone Group, Flutter Entertainment, Entain, Rio Tinto, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Natwest Group, Fresenillo, Airtel Africa, BP, Diageo, Barclays, Anglo American Plc, Antofagasta, BAE Systems, Lloyds Banking Group, Croda International and HSBC Holdings gained 1 to 2.5%.

Imperial Brands dropped 3.63% and Endeavour Mining drifted down 3.37%. Hargreaves Lansdown, 3I Group, AstraZeneca, Pershing Square Holdings, Persimmon and Scottish Mortgage lost 1 to 2%.

In Paris, Orange rallied more than 6.5% on strong results. Pernod Ricard gained about 3.6%, also on upbeat earnings update.

Societe Generale, Airbus Group, Kering, WorldLine, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Renault and Carrefour gained 2 to 5%.

Air Liquide, Safran, ArcelorMittal, Alstom, Dassault Systemes and STMicroElectronics also ended with strong gains.

In the German market, Deutsche Bank gained about 3.7%, Adidas surged nearly 3.5% and Continental advanced 2.3%. Symrise, Siemens Energy, MTU Aero Engines, Puma, BASF and Fresenius Medical Care also closed with strong gains.

Commerzbank surged nearly 12% after reporting a 12.1% increase in net income at Euro 472 million in the quarter ended December 2022, more than three times the net income it had recorded a year ago.

Zalando, Vonovia, Siemens Healthineers, Sartorius, Qiagen, Merck, Daimler Truck Holding and Linde lost 1 to 2.3%.