Bourses in Europe were on the positive territory on Thursday’s closing bell, following a strong finish from stocks in the United States. Global investors are currently digesting fresh data releases and earnings report.
The FTSE 100 index in the United Kingdom finished 0.21 percent higher on the day. The DAX 40 in Germany edged up by 0.88 percent. The CAC 40 index in France settled the day 0.65 percent up. The market fluctuated briefly on the session but was later lifted up when U.S. indices extended their gains on the same day.
Meanwhile, the European stocks benchmark Stoxx 600 index temporarily rose by 0.52 percent on Thursday. Almost all of the indexes sectors and major bourses on the green. However, Stoxx was close to coming under pressure due to basic resources, telecom, and energy sector.
British steam management system Spirax-Sarco Engineering was the leading advancer on the Stoxx 600 as it added as much as 6 percent in shares, following the report of the company that suggested unexpectedly higher earnings for the previous quarter. German airline Lufthansa said that the rising price of fuel had highly influenced their earnings this year. It dropped by 1.4 percent in the opening session but recovered at the market’s closing by 2.5 percent.
Insurance was on the peak of the European benchmark on the day as it advanced by 1.58 percent after the release of the better-than-expected earnings report. Munich Re added 2.78 percent in shares after the company raised its earnings forecast for 2018.