Investing.com - European stock markets mostly rose Thursday, with sentiment boosted by hopes that the war in Ukraine could end shortly, while investors also digested UK growth data as well as a raft of corporate earnings.
At 06:20 ET (11:20 GMT), the DAX index in Germany gained 1.8%, climbing to a record high, and the CAC 40 in France gained 1.5%, at its highest level since May. The FTSE 100 in the UK underperformed, falling 0.6%, weighed by some disappointing earnings.
End to Ukraine war?
The end of the war between Ukraine and Russia looks more likely after U.S. President Donald Trump held phone calls with both countries’ leaders to discuss a potential peace deal.
Trump said that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had expressed a desire for ending their long-running conflict in separate phone calls with him on Wednesday.
The U.S. President also said that he had ordered top officials to begin peace talks.
The move came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Ukraine would drop its bid to join NATO - which had been a major point of contention for Moscow.
UK economy grew in Q4
Data released earlier Thursday showed that Britain’s economy unexpectedly grew by 0.1% in the final quarter of last year, belying expectations that gross domestic product would shrink by 0.1%.
GDP rose by 0.4% in December from November, much stronger than the 0.1% forecast and driven by stronger-than-expected 0.4% growth in the large services sector.
However, this has done to help confidence in the U.K economy, with growth expected to be meager in 2025.
Eurozone industrial production shrank by more than expected in December, indicating that the sector’s two-year recession is far from over.
German inflation remained flat year-on-year in January at 2.8%, in line with forecast.
Barclays reports rise in annual profit
There are more quarterly corporate earnings for investors to digest Thursday, with some major U.K. companies disappointing investors.
Barclays (LON:BARC) stock fell 6% after the U.K. lender released some uninspiring guidance, even as it reported a 24% rise in annual pretax profit, as its investment bank reported strong performance for 2024.
Unilever (LON:ULVR) stock slumped 7% after the consumer goods giant’s CEO said growth would "remain soft in the first half of 2025", which undermined the news that its ice cream business will be separated by way of demerger, through listing of the business in Amsterdam, London and New York.
British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) stock dropped almost 9% after the tobacco giant said it would take a £6.2 billion ($7.74 billion) hit from a Canadian lawsuit and warned of "significant" headwinds in Bangladesh and Australia in 2025.
Elsewhere, Nestle (SIX:NESN) stock soared 6% after the world’s largest packaged food company posted an anticipated decline in full-year sales growth but pointed to an uptick in 2025 assuming "no significant change in key macroeconomic variables."
Siemens (ETR:SIEGn) stock gained over 6% after the German engineering group reported better-than-expected profit for its first quarter.
Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) stock rose 0.7% after the German lender reported strong results for 2024 on Thursday, as well as plans to cut almost 4,000 jobs.
Thyssenkrupp (ETR:TKAG) stock soared 9% after the German industrial conglomerate raised its outlook for free cash flow, citing advance payments for a major submarine order from the German military.
Crude falls on Ukraine peace hopes
Oil prices fell Thursday, on expectations that a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia would end sanctions that have disrupted supply flows.
By 06:20 ET, the U.S. crude futures (WTI) slipped 1.4% to $70.39 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 1.3% to $74.24 a barrel.
Both benchmarks fell more than 2% on Wednesday on raised hopes of a peace deal after President Trump spoke with the presidents of both Russia and Ukraine.
Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer and sanctions imposed on its crude exports as a result of its invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago have supported higher prices.
A build in crude oil inventories in the United States, the world’s biggest crude consumer, also weighed on the market.