BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday, and a few markets, including Germany, went on to post fresh record highs, amid continued optimism central banks will begin reducing interest rates soon.
Investors digested the latest batch of economic data from the region, and looked ahead to some crucial U.S. economic reports, including a reading on personal consumption expenditure, later this week.
The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.13%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.01%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.5% and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.25%, while Switzerland's SMI settled 0.22% up.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended higher.
Denmark, Greece and Sweden closed weak, while Netherlands and Turkiye ended flat.
In the UK market, Diploma and DS Smith soared 9.4% and 9.1%, respectively. Responding to media speculation, DS Smith confirmed that it is in discussions with International Paper for an all-stock offer deal valued at 5.72 billion pounds ($7.22 billion).
J Sainsbury gained about 4%. SSE, AstraZeneca, Airtel Africa, Fresnillo, Reckitt Benckiser, Centrica, Associated British Foods, JD Sports Fashion, Smith & Nephew, EasyJet, Rentokil Initial, Buberry Group and Phoenix Holdings gained 1 to 3%.
Flutter Entertainment ended 4.4% down. Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Standard Chartered, Smiths, St. James's Place and HSBC Holdings ended lower by 2 to 3%.
In the German market, Zalando and Bayer gained about 4.8% and 4%, respectively. Deutsche Bank, Fresenius Medical Care, Siemens Healthineers, RWE, Munich RE, Beiersdorf, Porsche, Hannover Rueck and Fresenius climbed 1 to 2.5%.
In Paris, Veolia, Orange, Alstom, STMicroElectronics, ArcelorMittal, Vinci, L'Oreal and Carrefour advanced 1 to 2%.
WorldLine, Schneider Electric, Edenred, Renault, Thales, Dassault Systemes and Safran ended with sharp to moderate losses.
Swedish stock H&M zoomed 15.2% as the world's second-largest listed fashion retailer beat first-quarter operating profit expectations.
On the economic front, survey data from the statistical office INSEE showed France's consumer confidence unexpectedly improved slightly in March, rising to 91 from 90 in the previous month. Economists had expected the score to remain stable at 90.
Data from the banking association vdp showed new real estate financing in Germany is set to pick up modestly this year after a massive fall last year amid the worst property market downturn in decades. Financing for the construction and acquisition of residential and commercial properties sank 31.3% in 2023 to total EUR 110.0 billion, the vdp said.
Loans for commercial property construction decreased 23.8% and credit for residential properties shrunk 35.8%. However, new real estate financing grew 5.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, which is otherwise a traditionally lowest time.
Eurozone economic sentiment rose to a three-month high in March driven by the improvement across all sectors except construction, survey data from the European Commission revealed. The economic sentiment index climbed to 96.3 in March, as expected, from 95.5 in the previous month.
The industrial confidence index rose to -8.8 from -9.4 in February. Managers' production expectations weakened and fewer managers assessed the stocks of finished products as too large or above normal.
The services confidence index improved to 6.3 from 6.0 a month ago as managers' demand expectations picked up.
Germany's leading five economic think tanks significantly lowered the biggest euro area economy's growth forecast for this year on Wednesday, citing cyclical and structural weakness amid sluggish economic activity.
The German economy is now projected to grow just 0.1% this year, the institutes said in their spring report, which was much less than the 1.3% expansion forecast in the previous report. The growth projection for next year was lowered slightly to 1.4% from 1.5%.
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