European stocks were broadly higher on Thursday, though underlying sentiment remained cautious amid growing jitters about inflation. Yields on 10-year Treasuries were down in European trade as the dollar weakened.<\/p>\n
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.2 percent to 437.09 after tumbling 1.5 percent in the previous session. <\/p>\n
The German DAX gained 0.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 index added 0.3 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 slid 0.3 percent in choppy trade as shares of a number of companies went ex-dividend. <\/p>\n
German sugar producer Suedzucker lost 3.6 percent despite confirming a rise in full-year profits. <\/p>\n
CTS Eventim EVD shares slumped 6.6 percent after the ticketing service reported an 89 percent drop in first-quarter revenue.<\/p>\n
Telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom gained 1.2 percent after raising its annual profit growth outlook.<\/p>\n
Bouygues shares edged up slightly in Paris. The conglomerate reported a smaller than expected first-quarter core loss and raised the full-year guidance for its telecoms division.<\/p>\n
Tesco shares fell 2.7 percent in London on going ex-dividend.<\/p>\n
Rail operator Trainline slumped as much as 24 percent after the government said it would digitize train-ticketing as part of an overhaul of its rail service.<\/p>\n
Telecommunications company BT Group fell 1.4 percent after a brokerage downgrade.<\/p>\n
Royal Mail tumbled 3.3 percent. The postal services company held back from providing a forecast for the current year, citing a number of uncertainties.<\/p>\n
Budget airline EasyJet dropped 2.6 percent after reporting a wider half-year loss.<\/p>\n
National Grid gained about 1 percent. The utility reported that its fiscal 2021 profit before tax climbed 19 percent to 2.08 billion pounds from last year’s 1.75 billion pounds.<\/p>\n
Nordic Semiconductor surged 6 percent after an Italian daily reported that larger rival STMicroelectronics is mulling an offer to buy the Oslo-listed company.<\/p>\n
On the economic front, Eurozone’s current account surplus in March decreased from the previous month, data from the European Central Bank showed.<\/p>\n
The current account surplus dropped to EUR 18 billion from EUR 26 million in February. In the same month last year, the surplus was EUR 10 billion.<\/p>\n
The goods trade surplus decreased to EUR 24 billion from EUR 33 billion in the previous month. The surplus in the services trade fell to EUR 8 billion from EUR 12 billion.<\/p>\n
German producer prices increased 5.2 percent year-on-year in April, faster than the 3.7 percent rise seen in March, Destatis reported. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 5.1 percent. <\/p>\n