BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets pared early gains and despite slipping into negative territory a little past mid afternoon, recovered to close modestly higher on Thursday thanks to some brisk buying at several counters in the final hour.
The markets started off on a firm note as oil prices fell early on in the day. However, the commodity recovered and moved higher later on in the day amid slightly fading hopes of an end to the Middle East conflict after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. 'doest not need a deal with Iran.'
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.14%. The UK's FTSE ended higher by 0.26%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.41% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.34%. Switzerland's SMI closed up 0.63%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Russia and Spain ended weak.
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Turkiye closed higher. Norway, Portugal and Sweden ended flat.
In the UK market, miners declined sharply, contributing to market's weak close. Endeavour Mining tumbled 8.4%. Fresnillo, Antofagasta and Anglo American lost 3%, 2.8% and 2%, respectively. Rio Tinto shed nearly 1%.
Babcock International drifted lower by 4.3%. ICG dropped 3.7%. Coca-Cola HBC, Spirax Group, Halma, IAG and Intercontinental Hotels Group also ended notably lower.
BAE Systems lost about 1.1% despite the defense firm raising its free cash flow projection for the second time this year.
Burberry Group soared 8%. The luxury fashion house reported a 225% jump in first-half adjusted operating profit.
Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail zoomed more than 17% after first-half sales, margins and profit beat forecasts.
3i Group surged nearly 6% after unveiling a new £750 million buyback programme and increasing its stake in its flagship investment.
Rolls-Royce Holdings rallied 2%. Land Securities, United Utilities, Rentokil Initial, National Grid, BT Group, Croda International, Barratt Redrow, Pearson, Kingfisher, British American Tobacco, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Diageo, Smith & Nephew, Next, Marks & Spencer, Admiral Group and The Sage Group gained 1%-2.2%.
In the German market, Gea Group tumbled 4.7% after announcing a change in leadership.
Rheinmetall, Fresenius Medical Care, Brenntag, Porsche Automobil Holding and Volkswagen lost 2%-2.8%. Merch closed lower by about 2.5% after raising its annoual core profit guidance. Siemens moved up nearly 5% after raising medium-term targets following better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Heidelberg Materials and Bayer also ended weak.
Munich RE climbed 3.2% on stronger than expected third quarter results. The company reported third quarter net income of 1.74 billion euros compared to 2.00 billion euros, a year ago. For the nine month period, net result climbed to 5.67 billion euros from 5.18 billion euros, prior year. Insurance revenue from insurance contracts increased to 46.58 billion euros from 45.16 billion euros, last year.
Hochtief jumped more than 2.5%. Zalando gained about 2.5%. Siemens moved up nearly 2% after raising medium-term targets following better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.
Allianz advanced almost 2%, lifted by better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and an upward revision in full-year earnings outlook.
For the nine-month period, Allianz recorded an operating profit of 14.1 billion euros, higher than prior year's 13.1 billion euros. Following the strong performance, the company raised the upper end of its fiscal 2026 operating profit target range to around 18.6 billion euros from previous view of 17.4 billion euros +/- 1 billion euros.
Symrise, E.ON, Fresenius, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens Healthineers, Hannover RE and SAP also ended on firm note.
In the French market, Stellantis dropped more than 4%. Renault drifted lower by nearly 3%. Thales, EssilorLuxottica, ArcelorMittal and Airbus ended lower by about 1.25%.
Sanofi and Capgemini moved up nearly 2%. Dassault Systemes, Danone, TotalEnergies, AXA, Engie and Bureau Veritas ended higher by 1%-1.8%.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK's real gross domestic product grew 0.7% on a quarterly basis, following an increase of 0.5% in the second quarter. The rate came in line with expectations.
On the production-side, output in the services sector increased 0.9% and the production sector grew 0.1%, while the construction sector contracted 0.7%.
The expenditure-side breakdown showed that household consumption rose 0.6% driven by increases in transport and housing. Government spending also grew 0.6%.
The UK's trade deficit for goods and services was estimated at 1.3% of nominal GDP in the third quarter.
On a yearly basis, GDP expanded 1.9% in the third quarter, matching expectations. In September, the economy grew 0.2% after showing no growth in August, data showed.
Another report from ONS showed that the visible trade deficit widened to GBP 22.3 billion in September from GBP 19.6 billion in August.
The overall trade balance covering goods and services showed a deficit of GBP 5.13 billion compared to a GBP 2.57 billion shortfall in the previous month.
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