European Shares Climb On Earnings Boost

European stocks advanced on Wednesday, as a spate of strong corporate results helped outweigh worries over the Ukraine war, slowing growth and expectations of aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve.

Investors also shrugged off data showing that German producer prices rose 30.9 percent year-on-year in March, reflecting the effects of the Ukraine conflict for the first time.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.9 percent to 460.34 while the German DAX and France’s CAC 40 were up 1.1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was seeing a modest 0.4 percent gain due to declines in the materials sector.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all fell around 2 percent as base metals prices fell.

Centamin slumped 7 percent after reporting a drop in is first-quarter gold production.

CRH jumped more than 5 percent after the building materials supplier said it expects sales and earnings margins to grow over the first half of 2022.

Engineering firm Senior Plc added 2 percent after reporting Q1 performance in line with expectations.

Heineken NV surged 4.2 percent. The world’s second-largest brewer stuck to its 2022 profit margin forecast after delivering first-quarter beer sales ahead of estimates.

ASML Holding NV jumped 6.3 percent. The semiconductor maker said demand for its chip-making machines outstripped supply in the second quarter.

Credit Suisse dropped 1.2 percent. The Swiss bank expects a first-quarter net loss after increasing legal provisions.

Automakers were rising, with Renault and Volkswagen climbing around 2 percent despite Europe’s passenger car registrations declining again in March.

German specialty chemicals company Lanxess rose 2.3 after saying it expects a significant rise in first-quarter core profit and sales.

Danone soared nearly 9 percent after the French food group reported its fastest sales growth in seven years. Meanwhile, speculation was rife that rival Lactalis may be interested in buying its businesses.

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