PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended in the green on Thursday, with investors welcoming a burst of good quarterly results.

In Paris, the CAC 40 increased by 1.32% to 7,311.8 points, while the German Dax rose by 1.3% and the British Footsie strengthened by 0.51%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index ended the session with an increase of 1.88%, while the FTSEurofirst 300 recorded a gain of 1.03% and the Stoxx 600 gained 1.08%.

Several quarterly results animated the discussions: ASML, a major player in the semiconductor sector, Deutsche Telekom, the leading group in the sector in Europe, and even Scor and Siemens published figures well received by investors.

Indicators published in Europe showed a more marked weakening than expected in industrial production, which fell by 2% over one month in September against a consensus of -1.4%.

The report of the last meeting of the European Central Bank, published on Thursday, also showed that the institution was concerned about a too strong decline in inflation, below the 2% target, as well as the outlook for mediocre growth in the euro zone.

“Instead of worrying about persistently high and ‘sticky’ domestic inflation, it seems that concerns related to growth have become the predominant factor in monetary policy,” summarize ING strategists, who believe a possible ECB rate cut by 50 basis points in December.

VALUES

Scor jumped 9.7%, investors welcoming the end of the review of its life and health (“L&H”) reinsurance assumptions while the group reported a net loss for the third quarter.

Thalès fell 1.9%, with investors believing that its new four-year financial targets revealed on Thursday were in line with consensus.

Alstom gained 12.2% after the publication of its quarterly results, with orders of 10.95 billion euros above consensus.

Merck reported an 11.9% rise in adjusted quarterly profit on Thursday, but fell 3.6% after reporting lower-than-expected revenue.

Burberry soared 19.6% after revealing a cost-cutting program.

Deutsche Telekom rose 3.5% after raising its profit forecast for the full year.

ASML gained 7% after saying it expects sales to increase between 8% and 14% over the next five years.

The technology segment posted the best sector performance in the Stoxx 600, up 3.2%.

A WALL STREET

Wall Street is hesitant before the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which will focus on the outlook for activity, and while bond yields remain near their highest in four months.

At closing time in Europe, trading on the New York Stock Exchange indicated a stable Dow Jones, compared to a decline of 0.1% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.18% for the Nasdaq Composite.

CHANGES

The foreign exchange markets are calm despite producer prices being slightly higher than expected in the United States.

The dollar fell by 0.08% against a basket of reference currencies, the euro rose by 0.09% to $1.0573, and the pound sterling strengthened by 0.05% to $1.2709.

RATE

Yields fell on both sides of the Atlantic as investors braced for Jerome Powell’s speech expected later on Thursday. In the euro zone, weaker than expected indicators also benefit sovereign securities.

The German ten-year yield lost 8 bp to 2.337%, that of the two-year rate lost 7 bp to 2.102%.

At closing time in Europe, the yield on the ten-year Treasury declined by 4.5 bp to 4.4059%, while the yield on the two-year security fell 1.9 bp to 4.2648%.

OIL

Oil is rebounding after its sharp fall triggered by the rebound in the dollar, with the International Energy Agency having also raised its oil demand forecast for 2025 on Thursday.

Brent rose by 0.32% to $72.51 per barrel, American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) rose by 0.29% to $68.63.

TO BE CONTINUED FRIDAY:

(Written by Corentin Chappron, edited by Sophie Louet)

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