BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed broadly higher on Wednesday with investors digesting a slew of earnings updates and regional economic data, in addition to following the developments on the geopolitical front, and awaiting the monetary policy announcements from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
The ECB and BoE, scheduled to make their policy announcements on Thursday, are widely expected to hold their interest rates unchanged. The focus will be on the banks for clues about future policy moves.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.03%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.85% and France's CAC 40 moved up 1.01%. Germany's DAX ended down by 0.72%, while France's CAC 40 closed up by 1.01%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.
Denmark shares plunged sharply with the benchmark OMXC 20 tanking nearly 7%. Iceland, Netherlands, Russia and Spain ended weak.
In the UK market, Entain soared 10.5%. DCC gained about 8%. Beazley moved up nearly 7% after Zurich Insurance Group said it has agreed in principle on the key financial terms of a possible all-cash offer to acquire Beazley plc, valuing the UK specialty insurer at up to 1,335 pence per share, or about 8.0 billion pounds.
GSK climbed nearly 7% on reporting better-than-expected profit in the fourth quarter. Profit attributable to shareholders increased to 636 million pounds or 15.8 pence per share from 414 million pounds or 10.1 pence per share a year ago.
BT Group, Croda International, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Intercontiental Hotels Group, Bunzl, Diageo, Ashtead Group, Marks & Spencer, Coca-Cola HBC, Mondi, Hiscox, Burberry Group, Berkeley Group Holdings, Land Securities, Admiral Group and Tesco gained 3%-6%.
Mining stocks Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc lost 6.2% and 3.8%, respectively. Fresnillo drifted down 3.2% and Endeavour Mining closed down by about 2.3%, while Glencore lost 1.1%.
RightMove, Barclays, Babcock International, BAE Systems, The Sage Group, St. James's Place, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Scottish Mortgage and Rolls-Royce Holdings also ended notably lower.
In the German market, Brenntag climbed 9%. Deutsche Telekom, Continental, Symrise and BASF gained 5%-6%.
Beiersdorf, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Henkel, Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Post, Vonovia, Hannover Rueck, Munich RE, Porsche Automobil Holding and Adidas gained 2%-4.7%.
Heidelberg Materials tumbled nearly 10%. Siemens slid more than 6%. Deutsche Bank, Rheinmetall, Scout24 and Siemens Energy lost 4%-5%.
Infineon Technologies, Commerzbank, MTU Aero Engines and RWE also declined sharply.
In the French market, Air Liquide, Pernod Ricard, Renault, Accor, STMicroElectronics, Orange, Carrefour, Stellantis, L'Oreal, Edenred, Michelin, Dassault Systemes and Bureau Veritas gained 2.5%-5.5%.
Credit Agricole, ArcelorMittal, Capgemini, Thales, Publicis Groupe and Legrand lost 1%-3%.
Flash estimate from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation softened in January, with the haromoized index of consumer prices rising 1.7% on a yearly basis, following a 2% increase in December. The rate came in line with expectations.
Month-on-month, the HICP was down 0.5 % in January.
Data from S&P Global showed the HCOB Flash Eurozone Composite PMI inched lower to 51.3 in January of 2026 from the 51.5 in the previous month, revised downwards from 51.5 and under the initial market expectations of 51.8.
The Services PMI came in at 51.6 for the month of January, down from 52.4 in December, while the manufacturing PMI score rose to 50.5 in January from 48.9 in December.
The HCOB Germany Composite PMI increased to 52.1 in January 2026 from 51.3 in December, but remained slightly below a preliminary estimate of 52.5, data from S&P Global showed.
The HCOB France Composite PMI for January 2026 was revised higher to 49.1 from a flash estimate of 48.6, but remained below December's 50.0.
The HCOB France Services PMI fell to 48.4 in January 2026, revised upward from the preliminary estimates of 47.9, compared with 50.1 in December.
Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global Composite PMI rose to 53.7 in January of 2026 from 51.4 in the previous month, revised slightly downward from the preliminary estimate of 53.9 but still sharply above the initial market expectations of 51.5.
The Services sector PMI came in at 54.0 in January, compared to 51.4 in December, while the manufacturing sector PMI score to a 17-month high of 51.8, rising from 50.6.
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