European stocks climb higher; Siemens impresses

European stock markets rose Thursday, with investors digesting a deluge of corporate earnings as well as regional growth and employment data. 

At 06:40 ET (11:40 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 1.4% higher, the CAC 40 in France rose 1%, and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. gained 0.3%. Eurozone grew in third quarter 

The eurozone grew faster than market watchers expected in the third quarter from the previous three months, data released earlier Thursday confirmed, but quarterly growth of 0.4% showed the eurozone economy remained fragile.

At the same time, eurozone industrial production fell more than expected in September with Germany suffering the biggest fall among the bloc's largest nations, indicating than a long-expected recovery could be even further delayed.

Industrial production fell by 2.0% compared to the previous month, exceeding a 1.4% drop expected, even as the previous month's solid 1.8% growth figure was revised down to just 1.5%.

Investors are also concerned about a potential trade war with the new Donald Trump-led US administration.

U.S. consumer inflation data - released on Wednesday -  read in line with expectations for October, but still showed inflation remained sticky. 

While the reading still spurred bets on a December interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, the longer-term rate outlook grew more uncertain, especially in the face of potentially inflationary policies under Trump. Siemens impresses with results

Thursday is another busy day of corporate news in Europe.

Siemens (ETR:SIEGn ) stock rose almost 6% after the German engineering company posted better than expected results and said it was in a good position to navigate mounting global political and trade tensions.

Deutsche Telekom (ETR:DTEGn ) stock climbed 4% after the German telecommunications giant reported a strong third quarter, primarily driven by robust growth in Germany, and raised its guidance.

Scor (EPA:SCOR ) rose over 7% after the French reinsurance company posted strong third quarter results.

ASML (AS:ASML ) stock rose 5% after Europe's largest tech firm said it expects sales to grow by 8% to 14% over the coming five years, as a boom in AI fuels strong demand for its most advanced tools.

Burberry (LON:BRBY ) stock soared 17% after new CEO Joshua Schulman unveiled his strategy to revive the struggling luxury fashion house, even as it  reported a half-year operating loss.

Aviva (LON:AV ) stock rose 4% after the British insurer posted a 15% rise in general insurance gross written premiums for the first nine months of the year, adding that it was confident of meeting group targets. Crude bounces despite demand concerns 

Oil prices edged higher Thursday, but gains have been limited by concerns surrounding global demand growth as well as higher production.

By 06:40 ET, the Brent contract climbed 0.1% to $72.65 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 0.5% higher at $68.78 per barrel.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its forecast for world oil demand growth in both 2024 and 2025 earlier in the week, mainly on concerns about China’s demand, and the International Energy Agency is likely to follow suit when it publishes its monthly report later in the session.

Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration slightly raised its expectation of US oil output this year, while also increasing its global oil output forecast for 2024.

The EIA publishes its weekly crude oil and product stockpile data later in the session, a day later than usual following Monday’s Veterans’ Day holiday in the US.

 

 

Source: Investing.com