BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed weak on Thursday with quarterly earnings updates influencing investors' moves. Worries about a trade war following U.S. President Donald Trump's persistent threats that his administration will levy 25% tariffs on several goods imported into America, and lingering geopolitical tensions rendered the mood cautious.
Investors also digested the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.2%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 settled lower by 0.57% and Germany's DAX closed 0.53% down, while France's CAC 40 gained 0.15%. Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.07%.
Other markets in Europe closed on a mixed note. Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway and Poland ended weak. Belgium and Ireland edged down slightly.
Finland, Greece, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.
In the UK market, BAE Systems ended down 4.54%. Rolls-Royce Holdings closed 3.7% down, and Barclays ended nearly 2.5% down.
BP, Rentokil Initial, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Scottish Mortgage, HSBC Holdings, Polar Capital Technology Trust, WPP, Tesco, Admiral Group, EasyJet, Imperial Brands, Melrose Industries and Haleon lost 1 to 2.5%.
Centrica rallied 5.7% despite a drop in earnings. The stock gained as the company has decided to extend its share buyback program, saying that it will by back shares worth an additional £500 million, bringing the total to £2 billion.
Lloyds Banking Group ended nearly 5% up. The lender said it set £700 million aside to cover the potential impact of historical commission arrangements on car loans. Investors also reacted positively to the lender's fourth-quarter results, and a higher-than-expected dividend, as well as a substantial buyback program.
Anglo American Plc gained 4% despite reporting a loss of $3.07 billion for fiscal 2024, as against a profit of $283 million in the previous year.
Endeavour Mining, Fresnillo, Howden Joinery, Taylor Wimpey, Prudential and Coca-Cola HBC gained 1 to 4%.
In the German market, Rheinmetall lost more than 4%. MTU Aero Engines ended nearly 4% down.
Mercedes-Benz lost 2.5% on weak results. The automobile major reported a profit of 2.48 billion euros for the fourth-quarter, down 20.3% from a profit of 3.12 billion euros in the year-ago quarter.
The company has decided to buy back own shares worth up to a maximum 5 billion euros over the next two years.
HeidelbergCement, Puma, Siemens Healthineers, Fresenius Medical Care, Adidas and Hannover Rueck lost 1 to 2.4%.
Sartorius climbed more than 4%. Bayer and Infineon both gained more than 2%. Infineon moved higher on news the European Commission has approved a 920 million euro German state aid to Infineon for the construction of a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden.
Symrise closed higher by about 1.7%. RWE, BMW, E.ON, Merck, Brenntag and Siemens posted moderate gains.
In the French market, Carrefour tanked more than 9% after the retailer sounded a note of caution on consumer demand and said it expects only 'slight' growth in free cash flow and earnings before interest and tax in 2025.
Renault closed lower by about 4.2%. Renault reported fiscal 2024 net income of 752 million euros, compared with net income of 2.2 billion euros, last year.
Accor ended lower by nearly 4% on lower earnings. The company reported a net profit of 610 million euros for fiscal 2024, down from previous year's net profit of 633 million euros.
Airbus Group lost 2.5% despite higher quarterly earnings. For the fourth-quarter, net income climbed 66% to 2.42 million euros from last year's 1.46 billion euros. Earnings per share were 3.07 euros, higher than 1.85 euros a year ago.
Publicis Groupe ended more than 3% down, while Edenred, Safran, ArcelorMittal and Capgemini closed lower by 1 to 2%.
Schneider Electric gained more than 3% after the company reported that its fiscal 2024 net income was 4.3 billion euros, an increase of 7% from last year.
STMicroElectronics climbed nearly 6%, while Eurofins Scientific and Unibail Rodamco ended higher by 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively.
BNP Paribas, L'Oreal, Legrand, LVMH, Engie and Bouygues posted moderate gains.
In economic news, Eurozone consumer confidence strengthened for a second straight month and at a faster than expected pace to its highest level in four months in February, suggesting that pessimism among households in the single currency bloc is easing despite the increasing threat of a trade tariff war.
The flash consumer confidence index rose to -13.6 from -14.2 in January, monthly survey data from the European Commission showed on Thursday. That surpassed the -14.0 reading economists had forecast.
Eurozone construction output remained flat at the end of the year, data from Eurostat showed. Construction output registered nil growth in December after expanding 0.6% in November and 0.4% in October.
On a yearly basis, construction output slid 0.1%, in contrast to the 0.3% increase in November.
UK manufacturers expect production to increase in the three months to May, the Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed.
Data from Destatis showed Germany's producer prices registered a slower growth in January, climbing up just 0.5% on yearly basis, following a 0.8% rise in December.
Consumer goods and durable consumer goods prices rose at a faster pace of 3% and 1.1%, respectively. Likewise, prices for capital goods gained 1.9%. On the other hand, intermediate goods prices fell 0.1%.
On a monthly basis, producer prices edged down 0.1%, the same pace of decline as seen in December.
The minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting revealed officials want to see further progress on inflation before they consider resuming lowering interest rates. The minutes also reiterated officials believe a 'careful approach' in considering additional adjustments to the stance of monetary policy is appropriate given the high degree of uncertainty.
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