Tile: European Stocks Higher; Corporate Earnings, German Factory Orders Help

Aug 04, 2022 03:50AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

European stock markets traded higher on Thursday, helped by mostly positive quarterly corporate earnings results and better-than-expected German factory orders ahead of the Bank of England's last monetary policy meeting.

Germany's DAX traded 0.9% higher, France's CAC 40 rose 0.5%, and the UK's FTSE 100 traded mostly unchanged.

European equities built on gains from the previous session, helped by German factory orders, which came in better than expected in June, falling 0.4% instead of the expected 0.8% in a month overshadowed by the growing energy crisis.

The tone was also helped by the quarterly earnings season, which produced results that mostly exceeded expectations.

Shares in Next rose 2.6 percent after the British clothing retailer raised its profit outlook for the year as retail sales recovered from a COVID-related slump.

Credit Agricole (EPA: CAGR) shares rose 3.6 percent after the French lender extended its winning streak among European banks by reporting a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and record activity in its investment banking division.

Shares in Lufthansa (ETR:LHAG) rose 5.8% after the German airline reported a return to operating profit in the second quarter, helped by rising demand for cargo flights. Nonetheless, the carrier warned that due to airport and airline staff shortages, it will only offer about 80% of its "pre-crisis" passenger capacity in the third quarter.

Shares of Adidas (OTC:ADDYY) rose 1.5 percent after the German sportswear firm said currency-neutral sales rose 4% in the quarter, even as operating profit suffered a sizable loss, mainly due to the suspension of operations in Russia

On the other hand, shares of Rolls-Royce (OTC:RYCEY) fell 4.5 after the aircraft engine maker warned of looming economic problems, despite reporting an improvement in cash flow of more than £1 billion in the first half.