By Ozan Ergenay and Johann M Cherian
(Reuters) -European shares edged up on Thursday, with industrials lifting the benchmark index following ABB’s upbeat results, while Germany-listed Sartorius was on track for its biggest drop in six months after bleak quarterly orders.
The continent-wide STOXX 600 was up 0.3%, as of 0854 GMT, as the earnings season picked up steam.
The industrials sector was the biggest boost with a 0.6% rise, driven by a nearly 5.2% surge in ABB as the Swiss engineering company’s profit trounced market expectations in the first quarter.
On the flip side, shares of Sartorius slumped 11.5% after the lab supplies maker’s first-quarter figures missed analysts’ expectations for order intake and revenue. The Franco-German firm’s France-listed shares dropped 13.0%.
As markets gear up for a flurry of corporate reports in the weeks to follow, first-quarter earnings are expected to decrease 12.1% from the previous year, according to LSEG data, as of Tuesday.
Subdued earnings could reflect a weakening economy, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank said, thereby giving the European Central Bank a greater reason to cut interest rates, which could boost risk appetite for European stocks.
The benchmark STOXX is more than 2% away from its all-time closing high hit in late March, as traders price in uncertainties around geopolitical tensions, the impact of record high European interest rates on corporate performances and the timing of U.S. rate cuts.
Meanwhile, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said the ECB has made it “crystal clear” that interest rates could be cut in June but has also been firm that policy decisions beyond that remain up in the air.
Among other stocks, Planisware jumped 25.1% in a stellar debut for the French software group on the Euronext Paris, adding momentum to a much-anticipated revival in initial public offerings.
Danone rose 1.3% after the French company posted stronger-than-expected quarterly sales, while Nokia slipped 1.3% after the Finnish telecom gear maker’s quarterly profit figures missed estimates.
Forvia jumped 3.1% after the European automotive supplier’s organic sales growth came in slightly ahead of market expectations for the first quarter.
easyJet climbed 3.3% to top the FTSE 100 index after the UK airline forecast a smaller-than-expected winter loss on increased flight demand.
On the data front, building permits for apartments in Germany fell 18.3% in February from a year earlier, underscoring a continued downturn in demand in the construction and real estate industry.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and Ozan Ergenay in Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia Cheema)
