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Investing.com – European stock markets edged higher Thursday, as investors focused on corporate earnings with the likes of banking giants Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) and Barclays (LON:BARC) reporting.
At 3:45 AM ET (0845 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.3% higher, the CAC 40 in France rose 0.2%, while the U.K.’s FTSE index dropped 0.1%.
European markets have rallied strongly of late, helped by the belief that the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines will lead to a sharp increase in economic growth and also by a strong earnings season.
At the end of last week, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) calculated that 60% of the European companies have beaten EPS estimates, while 18% have missed so far.
“This is a very strong outcome, and puts 4Q20 on track to deliver the broadest beat on data back to 2007,” the U.S. investment bank said in a research note. “Banks have been a key source of net beats, with 80% of the sector beating so far.”
The sector received less shareholder support Thursday, with Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) stock falling 0.5% after the Swiss bank recorded a 353 million Swiss franc ($392.79 million) net loss for the fourth quarter, weighed down by provisions for a legal dispute over property debt in the United States.
Barclays (LON:BARC) stock fell 1.5% as the U.K. bank reported a halving of its annual profit. That said, it still resumed dividend payouts after a year-long hiatus due to the pandemic, while also announcing a share buyback of up to 700 million pounds.
Elsewhere, Airbus (PA:AIR) stock fell 3.2% after the European plane maker posted a full-year loss for 2020 and withheld a dividend. Orange (PA:ORAN) stock slumped 5% after France’s biggest telecoms group reported a drop in core operating profit in the fourth quarter.
In Germany, Thyssenkrupp (DE:TKAG) stock climbed 0.9% after ending talks with Liberty Steel about potentially selling its steel division and saying it will try to make the business sustainable on its own. Daimler (OTC:DDAIF) stock rose 2.2% after the car manufacturer said it expects significant improvements in sales and operating profit in 2021, making up for lost production caused by a semiconductor chip shortage by the end of the year.
The economic data slate is largely empty as far as Europe is concerned, but not so in the U.S. Weekly initial jobless claims are expected to be around 765,000, which would be down from the 793,000 reported the previous week, while housing starts for January are forecast to be 1.66 million, slightly lower than the previous month.
Oil prices extended recent gains Thursday, as the arctic blast hitting Texas and other oil-producing states continued to hamper production.
Additionally, U.S. crude oil stocks fell by 5.8 million barrels last week, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute, when a draw of just over 2 million barrels had been expected.
U.S. Energy Information Administration oil inventory data is scheduled for release later on Thursday, delayed by a day after Monday’s holiday.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% higher at $61.52 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.8% to $64.85, both contracts climbing to their highest levels since January 2020.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.7% to $1,785.75/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.2064.
