Shares from European countries’ traded lower on Thursday’s closing bell. Investors are currently reacting to fresh corporate earnings for the first quarter.
Basic resources were the closest one to reach the summit of the European benchmark on the prior day as it finishes 0.36 percent higher. This is driven by the gains from mining companies Polymetal and Fresnillo, along with heightened oil prices. In addition, food and beverages also went with the positive flow.
Stoxx 600, a European stocks benchmark, finished lower by 0.52 percent, with two of its major sectors on the negative zone.
However, stocks from European banks slumped on the day due to the feedback of investors on corporate earnings. Yet, regardless of the sector marginally falling, Italian banking services Unicredit posted a net profit worth €907 million (986 million in USD), their gains capped the expectations of analysts and minimised loan losses. Its shares edged up as much as 3 percent by assets.
Telecom sectors in Europe also struggled to acquire gains. BT, Telenor and Telefonica were 3 percent lower on the previous session. Britain’s largest telecom company BT suggested that it is considering reducing 4,000 jobs and switch to a different boss in order to face the main cause of the accounting scandal in Italy last January.
Pharmaceuticals also slipped on Thursday, Hikma Pharmaceuticals in particular, as it was unlikely that U.S. regulators will approve a non-specific copy of GlaxoSmithKline's lung drug Advair. This is due to the major concerns regarding its application. It lost as much as 7 percent in shares.