European shares rose on Thursday, as a raft of upbeat earnings from the likes of consumer goods major Unilever and online gaming group Evolution improved mood, while investors assessed stalling manufacturing data for the ECB’s rate-cut outlook.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.6% as of 0850 GMT, in a largely broad-based market advance following a three-day losing streak.
Travel and leisure led sectoral gains with a 3% jump to a near seven-month high, as Sweden’s Evolution soared 13% after reporting third-quarter earnings in line with forecast despite ongoing issues with its Georgian workforce.
The automobiles index also climbed 2%, boosted by a 7.2% jump in French carmaker Renault following an unexpected rise in its quarterly revenue.
Unilever rose 4% after slightly better-than-expected underlying quarterly sales and its biggest gain in sales volumes in three-and a-half-years.
The personal and household goods index rose nearly 2%. Anglo American gained 4% after the miner maintained its full-year copper production forecast despite a weak third-quarter.
Meanwhile, a survey showed euro zone business activity stalled again this month, remaining in contractionary territory as demand from both home and abroad fell.
“While the composite PMI signals a contraction, it isn’t really one, so it kind of overstates the weakness in the economy,” said Stefan Koopman, senior market economist at Rabobank.
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“Perhaps (the economy is) not doing that bad as the PMI suggests, but it is setting the market up for a 50-basis-point cut from the ECB in December.”
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday had urged some caution when deciding on further rate cuts, but sources previously told Reuters that policymakers were already beginning to debate whether rates have to go below neutral to stimulate the economy.
Further on the earnings front, Mycronic was the top STOXX 600 gainer, after the Swedish solutions maker for electronics manufacturing jumped 13% following better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Sodexo rose 5.4% after the French service provider’s “reassuring” results.
Birkin bag maker Hermes rose 2% after reporting a hefty rise in third-quarter sales, which also likely aided Kering’s 2% gain in the face of the Gucci-owner’s 2024 operating income warning.
On the other hand, the French vouchers group Edenred slumped 14% to the bottom of STOXX 600 after missing revenue expectations.
Hemnet fell 9% after the Swedish property platform operator reported third-quarter earnings below estimates.