European Stocks Close Higher On Encouraging Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Thursday with investors continuing to react positively to inflation readings from the U.S. and U.K. Investors also digested U.S. GDP data and weekly jobless claims and industrial production data from the U.S.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.15%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.8%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended stronger by 1.66% and 1.23%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI closed up 0.65%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher, while Russia ended weak, and Norway closed flat.

In the UK market, Admiral Group shares climbed 6.5% after the company reported strong earnings, and raised its dividend.

Standard Chartered rallied 3.7%. JD Sports Fashion, Pershing Square Holdings, WPP, Barclays, Scottish Mortgage, ICG, Antofagasta, IHG, DCC, Entain, Convatec Group, Aviva, Beazley, AstraZeneca, Diageo, Lloyds Banking Group and Melrose Industries gained 2 to 3%.

Rio Tinto, Barratt Developments and United Utilities lost 2.1%, 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively.

In the German market, Infineon gained more than 4%. Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post, Commerzbank, Mercedes-Benz, Hannover Rueck, Zalando, BASF, Volkswagen, Siemens and SAP gained 2 to 3.2%.

BMW, Allianz, Deutsche Boerse, Munich RE, Bayer, Continental and Sartorius also closed sharply higher.

In the French market, Accor gained nearly 3.5%. Renault, ArcelorMittal, Hermes International, Societe Generale, Saint-Gobain, LVMH, Kering, Legrand, Capgemini, Airbus Group, TotalEnergies and Stellantis climbed 1.5 to 2.2%.

The UK economy expanded again in the second quarter but the pace of growth moderated slightly due to the contractions in industrial and construction output, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

U.K.'s real gross domestic product grew 0.6% in the three months to June, slightly slower than the 0.7% expansion seen in the first quarter and in line with expectations.

Switzerland's economy expanded at a faster pace in the second quarter, led by both industry and services sectors, preliminary estimates from the statistical office showed.

Swiss gross domestic product grew 0.5% quarter-on-quarter, flash estimates from the Federal Statistical Office showed. That followed a 0.3% increase in the first quarter after adjusting for sporting events.

Switzerland's producer and import prices continued to decline as expected in July. Producer and import prices dropped 1.7% year-on-year in July, slightly slower than the 1.9% decline in June. Prices have been falling since May 2023. The producer price index dropped 1.2% annually in July, and import prices registered a decrease of 2.7%.

In U.S. economic news, data from the Commerce Department showed retail sales jumped by 1% in July after edging down by a revised 0.2% in June. Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.3% compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

Data from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims fell to 227,000 in the week ended August 10th, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level of 234,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 235,000 from the 233,000 originally reported for the previous week.