BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - After languishing in negative territory till well past noon, European stocks staged a fairly good recovery in the final hour to end on a mixed note on Thursday. Investors largely kept their focus on corporate earnings updates.
Worries about Middle East tensions weighed, rendering the mood a bit bearish for much of the day's session.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.05%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX ended lower by 0.19% and 0.16%, respectively. France's CAC 40 moved up 0.87%. Switzerland's SMI climbed 1.38%.
Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Türkiye closed weak.
Finland, Greece, Norway, Portugal and Russia ended higher, while Austria, Belgium and Sweden closed flat.
In the UK market, Anglo American Plc climbed more than 4%. Melrose Industries, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Vodafone Group, BT Group, Reckitt Benckiser, Haleon, M&G and British American Tobacco gained 1.5%-2%.
Fresnillo fell nearly 6.5%. Legal & General lost 5.6%. The Sage Group, Experian, 3i Group, Rightmove and Convatec Group lost 3%-4%.
Sainsbury (J) drifted down 3.7% after the grocer warned that profits could fall this year.
WH Smith shares slumped 10%. The British travel retailer issued a profit warning after reporting a sharp fall in first-half profit and suspending dividend due to uncertainty in the Middle East.
Endeavour Mining, Smith & Nephew, Relx, Pearson, Hiscox, Marks & Spencer, Burberry Group, Tesco and Nest also ended notably lower.
In the German market, Infineon climbed 8% after STMicroelectronics reported strong quarterly earnings.
Siemens Energy, Continental, E.ON, BASF and MTU Aero Engines gained 1%-2.5%.
SAP ended down by about 6%. Qiagen dropped 4.5% and Fresenius lost nearly 4%. Scout24, Merck, Zalando, Adidas, Siemens Healthineers, Deutsche Bank, Vonovia and Deutsche Post also declined sharply.
In the French market, L'Oreal soared 9% after the company reported its fastest quarterly growth in two years. The company reported first-quarter sales of 12.15 billion euros, up 3.6% from 11.73 billion euros last year. On a like-for-like basis, revenues were up 7.6% for the quarter.
STMicroelectronics gained about 6.3% on strong quarterly results. Orange moved up 3.3% after lifting a key earnings metric for the full year.
Aerospace and defense group Safran moved up after first-quarter revenue and operating income came in above expectations.
Edenred gained 4.2%. Bouygues, Dassault Systemes, Hermes International, Saint-Gobain, Sanofi and Airbus also closed notably higher.
Capgemini slid 5.7%. EssilorLuxottica, Teleperformance, Carrefour, Stellantis and Renault also closed weak.
Data from S&P Global showed Germany's S&P Global Composite PMI fell to 48.3 in April, down sharply from 51.9 in March and below market expectations of 51.1, according to preliminary data.
The S&P Global Germany Manufacturing PMI fell to 51.2 in April from 52.2 in the prior month, broadly in line with forecasts of 51.3, according to flash estimates. Meanwhhile, flash Services PMI fell sharply to 46.9 in April from 50.9 in March, missing expectations of 50.3 and marking the deepest contraction since November 2022.
France's private sector shrank the most since early 2025 in April reflecting deterioration in the service sector as manufacturing output grew at the strongest pace in over four years, data from S&P Global showed.
The flash composite output index fell to a 14-month low of 47.6 in April from 48.8 in March. The score was forecast to fall to 48.6.
The services Purchasing Managers' Index dropped more-than-expected to 46.5 in April from 48.8 a month ago. The reading was seen at 48.5.
The manufacturing PMI posted a 47-month high of 52.8 in April, up from 50.0 in March. The score was above forecast of 49.5.
'The service economy has deteriorated due to a diminishing willingness to spend - a typical consequence of uncertainty - pulling overall business activity levels lower,' S&P Global Market Intelligence Principal Economist Joe Hayes said.
Europe's new car registrations logged strong growth in March driven by the surge in demand for battery electric vehicles, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, said. Car sales increased 12.5% from a year ago to 1.158 million units in March, with electric and hybrid vehicles accounting for the majority of growth.
The UK budget deficit narrowed in March, reaching its lowest level for the month since 2022, the Office for National Statistics reported today.
Public sector net borrowing fell by GBP 1.4 billion to GBP 12.6 billion in March. This was the lowest March borrowing since 2022.
In the financial year to March, borrowing was estimated at GBP 132.0 billion, which was GBP 19.8 billion lower than in the financial year to March. Borrowing reached 4.3 percent of GDP, the lowest since financial year to March 2020.
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