European shares finished slightly higher as investors absorb corporate earnings as well as fresh economic data from Germany and the United Kingdom.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.08 percent higher with banking stocks the leading in gains on expectations of a potential interest rate hike in the United States next week.
Despite news of a solid outlook for the Chinese steel industry, basic resources stocks closed 0.6 percent down.
Adidas, the German sportswear manufacturer, rose by 9.4 percent after reporting “stunning” earnings. It expects its 2017 gross margin to go up 49.1 percent. The sportswear company finished the trading day at the top of the European benchmark with G4S, a security services company, right behind, G4S soard 8 percent after reporting an 18 percent increase in adjusted profit last year.
British satellite company Inmarsat recorded its best trading day in four months after reporting a 98.5 percent gain in earnings. Inmarsat’s stocks went up by 8.5 percent.
Among the biggest leaders in gains is Just Eat for its second day in a row after Barclays analysts had lifted their rating to overnight after the company reported full-year earnings in the previous session. Just Eat’s stock went up 3.8 percent.
On the other hand, France-based utility firm EDF plummeted by over 7.9 percent to hit the bottom of the index after the French government made 92 million euros in a share sale. The marine construction firm Boskalis reported a full-year of loss for the first time in twenty years on one-off charges. The stock of Boskalis lost about 3.9 percent.