BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors awaited the latest ECB policy announcement and the post-meeting news conference by President Lagarde for directional cues.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of Japan left its monetary policy unchanged, raised growth projections and noted that risks to both economic activity and prices were skewed to the downside.
The pan European Stoxx 600 rose 0.4 percent to 412.47 after rising 0.7 percent in the previous session. The German DAX edged up 0.3 percent, while France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were marginally lower.
Engineering company Sandvik was little changed in choppy trade after reporting quarterly earnings above market forecasts.
Cellnex Telecom, a wireless telecommunications infrastructure and services company, surged 4 percent after it announced an agreement with Deutsche Telekom to combine their mobile infrastructure in the Netherlands.
Tate & Lyle, a specialty food ingredients manufacturer, gained 1.3 percent after announcing the appointment of Vivid Sehgal to the position of Chief Financial Officer.
IG Group Holdings declined 1.5 percent. The online trading company reported that its first half profit before tax increased 129 percent to 231.3 million pounds from 101.2 million pounds, prior year.
The Sage Group jumped 5 percent. In its trading update for the three months ended 31 December 2020, the software company said total Group revenue increased by 1.4 percent to 447 million pounds.
Close Brothers Group rallied 3.3 percent after delivering a strong performance in the five months ended December 31.
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