BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks failed to hold early gains and ended on a mixed note on Thursday as investors reacted to earnings announcements and regional economic data in addition to assessing the Middle East situation.
Despite reports about Iran and Oman moving closer to striking an agreement to once again reopen the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices moved up sharply amid reports of attacks on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended higher by 0.16%. The UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.19%, Germany's DAX edged up 0.05% and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.35%, while Switzerland's SMI finished lower by 0.23%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Türkiye closed higher.
Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Russia and Sweden ended weak.
In the UK market, WPP shares skyrocketed 29% after the world's largest advertising group posted better-than-expected first-half profits and margins.
Diageo climbed 5.6% after the company announced a plan to save $1 billion over three years after operating profit fell 27.2% in the first half.
Persimmon moved up nearly 3%. The company said it expects annual home deliveries to be at the top of its prior forecast range.
Admiral Group jumped 5.3%. Vodafone Group rallied 4.3% and Metlen Energy & Metals gained nearly 3.5%. Outsourcing firm Serco soared nearly 7% after reporting higher first-half underlying profit and increasing the size of its share buyback program.
BAE Systems, Airtel Africa, Computacenter, IMI, Centrica, Barratt Redrow, SSE, The Sage Group, LSEG, Convatec Group, Haleon, Aviva, Lion Finance and Endeavour Mining also closed notably higher.
Tritax Big Box REIT, Relx, IG Group Holdings, Melrose Industries, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Compass Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Coca-Cola HBC, Antofagasta, Reckitt Benckiser, 3i Group, Polar Capital Technology Trust, St. James's Place, AutoTrader Group and AstraZeneca ended notably lower.
In the German market, Deutsche Telekom surged nearly 6.5% after the company's profit from operations for the second-quarter came in at Euro 6.863 billion as against prior year's EUR 6.642 billion.
Henkel climbed about 4% despite the company's net income dropping by 11% to 988 million euros in the first half.
Zalando moved up 2.7%. Brenntag, RWE, Siemens Energy, Munich RE, Fresenius Medical Care, Fresenius, Hannover RE, BASF, Adidas and SAP gained 1%-2.5%.
Merck advanced after the company upgraded the target corridors for its full year guidance. The company reported a net income of 494 million euros for the second-quarter, compared to 655 million euros, a year ago. Group net sales increased to 5.4 billion euros from 5.3 billion euros, prior year, representing organic growth of 4.1%.
Scout24 ended down by nearly 7% despite reporting higher earnings. Net income increased to €63.2 million, or €0.90 per basic share in the second-quarter, from €39.0 million, or €0.54 per basic share, a year earlier, the company said. . Siemens drifted down 4.4% despite reporting higher earnings. The company's net income for the third-quarter grew to 2.270 billion euros from last year's 2.046 billion euros. Earnings per share improved to 2.91 euros from 2.58 euros a year ago.
Commerzbank lost 2.2%. The lender reported that its second quarter net result attributable to shareholders increased to 898 million euros from 462 million euros, prior year. Operating result increased by around 17% to 1.37 billion euros in the second quarter.
Rheinmetall and Vonovia also declined sharply.
In the French market, Hermes International gained over 5%. Orange, Teleperformance, Publicis Groupe, STMicroelectronics, Kering, Dassault Systemes, Pernod Ricard, Thales, Legrand, AXA and TotalEnergies advanced 1%-2.7%.
Edenred, Airbus, ArcelorMittal, Saint-Gobain, Safran, Veolia Environment and Stellantis closed with sharp to moderate losses.
Survey results from S&P Global showed Germany's construction sector downturn deepened in July with building companies reporting further declines in total activity and new orders. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index posted 42.1 in July compared to 44.8 in June. This was the lowest score in three months.
Data from Destatis showed Germany's factory orders grew more than expected in June, rising by 3.1% on a monthly basis, faster than the revised 0.3% rise in May and economists' forecast of 0.5%.
Excluding large scale orders, new orders dropped 0.5% from the previous month.
Data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority showed new passenger car registrations in Germany decreased 1.2% year-on-year in July from 15.7% in June.
Data from statistical office INSEE showed private payroll employment in France fell 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, or 19,300 jobs, to 21 million in the second quarter of 2026, in line with expectations.
Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global France Construction PMI rose to 41.5 in July from 38.2 in June, marking its highest level since February.
Retail sales in Euro zone dropped 0.3% in June after seeing a 0.4% increase in May. Retail sales were expected to rise by 0.1% in June.
The S&P Global UK Construction PMI rose to 44.7 in July from 38.4 in the previous month, extending the rebound from the six-year low of 38.2 in May to reflect some consolidation in the sector.
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