BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks snapped recent losses and closed higher on Wednesday as optimism about corporate earnings helped offset worries about oil prices, and concerns about geopolitical tensions to some extent. Investors also digested the latest batch of regional economic data, including U.K.'s consumer price and producer price inflation reports.
Crude oil pared early gains. After gaining more than 2% early on in the session, brent crude front-month futures dropped to around $108.00 a barrel, down slightly from previous close.
Oil prices moved up after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that the United States must end pressure and threats, cease regional pressure, and lift economic sanctions before any negotiations.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.92%. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.19%, Germany's DAX moved up 1.35% and France's CAC 40 closed higher by 1.06%. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.51% up.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain closed on firm note.
Belgium, Russia and Sweden edged slightly higher, while Türkiye closed weak.
In the UK market, Computacenter rallied 3.7%. Lion Finance closed up 3.1%. Experian moved up 3.65%, while Convatec Group, BP, Prudential, Scottish Mortgage, Games Workshop, Compass Group, Relx and Halma gained 1.5%-2%.
Standard Chartered, IAG, Lloyds Banking Group, Centrica, HSBC Holdings, Standard Life, Coca-Cola HBC and Segro also ended notably higher.
Aberdeen Group shares dropped 4.1% after the company said its assets under management and administration rose 4% at the end of September from the end of 2025.
3i Group ended nearly 4% down. Burberry Group, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, Anglo American Plc, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Informa and Rio Tinto shed 1%-2.4%.
In the German market, SAP moved up more than 3.5%. Bayer, Siemens Energy, Siemens, Zalando, Scout24, RWE and Infineon gained 2%-2.7%.
Shares of sportswear maker Adidas climbed about 1.5%% after the company lifted its FY26 profit outlook. Adidas announced preliminary third-quarter results, reporting higher operating profit and revenues. Adidas continues to expect its currency-neutral revenue growth of between 9% and 10%to lead to higher profitability.
Deutsche Bank, Heidelberg Materials, Commerzbank, Fresenius, Allianz, E.ON and Munich RE moved up 1%-2%.
Rheinmetall tumbled 3.1%. Merck dropped 2.9% and Fresenius Medical Care drifted down 2.5%. Continental, Beiersdorf and BMW also closed notably lower.
In the French market, EssilorLuxottica soared nearly 16% on upbeat earnings update. The company reported on Tuesday that its third quarter revenue came in at Euro 7.486 billion, up 9.0% year over year at current exchange rates and 7.2% at constant exchange rates.
Direct to Consumer revenue rose 10.6% at constant exchange rates to Euro 4.093 billion, supported by comparable-store sales growth of 6.8%. Professional Solutions revenue increased 3.4% to Euro 3.393 billion, the company said.
Eurofins Scientific gained about 2.5% after confirming its objectives for 2027. Bureau Veritas jumped 3.7%. Legrand, Teleperformance and Airbus also ended sharply higher.
Schneider Electric, Dassault Systemes, Capgemini, Hermes International, TotalEnergies, Engie and STMicroelectronics also closed notably higher.
Carrefour tanked nearly 14% following the supermarket chain warning that the recent violent protests across France would dent its profits. Chief executive Alexandre Bompard said around 50 Carrefour stores were looted over the weekend, and it expects operating profit will be cut this year by 80 million to 200 million euros ($90-$225 million) as a result.
Payment service provider Edenred plunged more than 8% after trimming its 2026 EBITDA guidance.
Shares of tire maker Michelin fell more than 7% after the company reported a drop in third-quarter sales volumes. Tire volumes declined 0.8%, primarily due to weaker Original Equipment sales, while the price-mix effect contributed a positive 1.1%.
Renault dropped nearly 3%. Pernod Ricard, Orange and Saint-Gobain also closed notably lower.
In economic news, data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK consumer price inflation rose to a one-year high in September on motor fuel prices. Consumer prices registered an annual growth of 3.5% after rising 3.1% in August. The rate was the highest since last October and also came in above forecast of 3.4%.
Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, accelerated to 2.8% in September from 2.6% in the prior month.
The CPI goods annual rate advanced to 3.2% from 2.7% and services inflation rose to 3.7% from 3.4%.
Month-on-month, consumer prices grew 0.4%, slightly slower than the 0.5% rise seen in August. Prices were forecast to rise 0.3%.
Another report from ONS showed that output price inflation hit the highest since April 2023. Factory gate prices were up 4.6%, following a revised 3.8% rise in August. On a monthly basis, output prices gained 0.8% after rising 0.7% a month ago.
Input price inflation rose to a four-month high of 8.3% in September from 6.7% in August. Monthly input prices moved up 1.5%, up from a revised increase of 0.5% in the prior month. per
A separate data from ONS showed the UK budget deficit widened more than estimated in September, increasing to GBP 24.5 billion from GBP 22.8 billion in the previous year. This was GBP 1.9 billion above the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast as spending growth outpaced the increase in receipts.
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