European markets closed higher amid key earnings reports

LONDON – European shares ended in positive territory on Thursday as investors looked to earnings reports for clues on business activity and confidence in the region.

Pan-European Stocks 600 The session closed up 0.4%. of the UK FTSE 100 The index added 0.7%, France’s CAC 40 Advanced 0.2%, and Italy FTSE MIB It also saw an increase of 0.4%. of Germany DAX Also ended at 0.3%, higher edge.

It was a busy day for earnings in Europe dry, Roche Holding, Unilever, Vinci, Thales, LSEG, Dassault Systems, Antofagasta, Swedbank, Nokia And Lloyds Banking Group Among the big names reporting third quarter numbers.

An enterprise software firm SAP It released earnings late on Wednesday, which missed analysts’ expectations. The German company reported a 7% rise in third-quarter revenue to 9.08 billion euros ($10.53 billion), beating expectations of 9.15 billion euros ($7.96 billion), according to consensus figures compiled by LSEG.

However, its cloud revenue rose 22% as CEO Christian Klein put it down to increasing AI and data cloud market share.

“For Q4 we are working against a strong pipeline – which gives us confidence in our overall revenue growth ambitions for 2026,” he said in a statement. Shares of SAP ended the session up 2.2%.

Gucci-Owner dry Also reported after the bell on Wednesday. Group total revenue for the quarter was 3.4 billion euros, down 5% on a comparable basis but beating expectations for 3.31 billion euros, according to consensus data compiled by FactSet. Gucci sales – which typically account for half of Kering’s total revenue – came in just shy of estimates of 1.3 billion euros, down 14% from a year earlier. Its shares closed up 8.7%.

In financial services, Lloyds Banking Group On Thursday it reported a pre-tax profit of around £1.2 billion, slightly above the consensus estimate of around £1 billion, but down from £1.8 billion in the same period last year. It comes after the British lender earlier this month announced an additional £800 million charge related to customer compensation stemming from the UK car finance mishandling scandal. Its shares were up 1.2% at the closing bell.

shares in Scandinavisca Enskilda Banken ( SEB ) fell 0.1% as third-quarter net interest income came in at 10.4 billion Swedish krona, beating analysts’ forecast of 10.2 Swedish krona. The bank’s quarterly-earnings report showed a net profit of 7.68 billion Swedish krona for the three-month period, missing analysts’ estimates of 7.86 billion Swedish krona, according to LSEG estimates.

Swedbank It reported a pre-tax profit of 10.8 billion Swedish krona, beating analysts’ estimates of 9.4 billion Swedish krona. Shares in the Stockholm-listed lender – which has a strong presence in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – fell 0.2% on the day. The bank’s net interest income reached 10.8 billion Swedish krona, beating analysts’ estimates of 10.7 billion Swedish krona.

Oil prices They were in focus on Thursday after jumping around 3% in the previous session Trump administration imposed on Further approval On Russia’s two largest crude companies, Rosneft And I locked it. The commodity rose more than 5% in afternoon trade.

The administration cited Moscow’s “lack of serious commitment to the peace process to end the war Ukraine.”

European Union member states also approved new sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, including a ban on imports of liquefied natural gas, as the bloc begins efforts to cut energy supplies from Russian oil and gas.

“We really want to deprive Russia of the means to fund this war,” Kaja Callas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and vice president of the European Commission, told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Thursday.

The continent has made progress on this, Callas noted, but “not all member states are there,” she said. “So the criticism we’ve heard from the United States, about some of our member countries still buying oil and gas, is very concerning,” she added.

Callas spoke ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday, where further measures will be discussed. Brussels will also discuss using frozen Russian assets as repayment loans to support Ukraine.

comprehensive Asia-Pacific market Wall Street’s decline on Wednesday was largely tracked by concerns over US-China trade relations. Trade fears resurfaced after Reuters Reported The Trump administration is considering curbing exports to China made with U.S. software, according to a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter.

US stock markets were in positive territory as investors digested quarterly earnings releases that came after the previous market close, including Tesla, IBM, Modern And Lam Research.

— CNBC’s Hugh Leask, Pia Singh and Noor Hikmah Mohammad Ali contributed to this market report.