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STOXX 600 up 0.2%
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France's CAC sets new record high
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Airbus rises on profit beat
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Pernod Ricard rises on upbeat H1 results
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ECB's Panetta calls for small rate hikes
(Updates to market close)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Amruta Khandekar
Feb 16 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday as
upbeat corporate earnings helped France's blue-chip index touch
a new record high, overshadowing worries about U.S. interest
rates staying elevated after further evidence of the country's
economic strength.
France's CAC 40 index ended up 0.9% at 7,366.16
points, after having scaled a new record high of 7,387.29 points
during the day.
French stocks have risen nearly 13.8% so far this year,
following a battering in 2022, boosted by hopes that the euro
zone will narrowly avoid a recession, as well as strength in
shares of China-exposed luxury firms such as LVMH and
Kering .
Germany's industrials-heavy DAX index ended the day
0.2% higher.
"The luxury sector has got a boost in the hope that China
reopening will see a pickup in demand," said Michael Hewson,
chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, adding that a fall in
energy prices has also led to a brighter domestic outlook.
"These same factors have helped the automotive sector in the
CAC 40 and the DAX."
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2% but
retreated from a near one-year high hit earlier in the session
after data showed U.S. producer prices rose more than expected
in January, spurring concerns that the Federal Reserve would
stick to its rate hike campaign for longer.
"There is nothing here to suggest the Fed will be adopting a
more dovish tone any time soon," said Stuart Cole, macro
economist at Equiti Capital.
In the euro zone, price pressures have been on the decline
but European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers have been stressing
the need to stick to aggressive tightening, with the exception
of board member Fabio Panetta who on Thursday called for smaller
rate hikes.
BIG EARNINGS BOOST
European banks rose 2.1% to lead gains among STOXX 600 sectors while industrials were also a big boost to the index, with upbeat earnings reports driving gains. Airbus rose 4.9% after the world's largest planemaker posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly operating profit. Pernod Ricard gained 3.4% after the French drinks maker delivered forecast-beating first-half profit and sales, while the UK's Standard Chartered reported a 28% rise in annual pretax profit and unveiled a new $1 billion share buyback programme, pushing its shares 4.1% higher. London's FTSE 100 gained 0.2%, closing above 8,000 points for the first time. Germany's Commerzbank jumped 11.6% on better-than-expected quarterly net profit, while French telecoms company Orange rose 6.5% as it said it expects to bolster cash flows and increase shareholder returns by 2025.
Bucking the trend and limiting the STOXX 600's advance, was Nestle , which fell 2.5% after world's biggest food group missed 2022 profit forecasts. (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal, Shristi Achar and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sharon Singleton)
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