LONDON – European stocks rose on Thursday as investors reacted to a string of gains and continued to monitor developments in Ukraine and Russia’s next move in its gas supplies to Europe.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 1% in early trade, with autos rocketing 2.2% to lead gains as all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory.
Trading in European stocks was mixed on Wednesday, with concerns lingering over Ukraine and energy supplies to the region following Russia’s decision to halt gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
Gazprom told both countries it was halting supplies because they refused to pay for the gas in rubles, as Moscow recently demanded. The move pushed European gas prices higher and the euro lower, with the single currency falling to a five-year low against the dollar earlier in the day.
Stock picks and investment trends from CNBC Pro:
Elsewhere, Asia Pacific stocks were higher in Thursday morning trade as investors in the region watched the market reaction to the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy decision. US stock futures rose in overnight trading as the market shrugged off April’s sell-off and investors reacted positively to meta-platform gains.
In another gainful day, companies reporting on Thursday included Sanofi, TotalEnergies, HelloFresh, Banco Sabadell, Barclays, Sainsbury’s, Standard Chartered and Unilever.
Barclays beat earnings expectations on a strong performance from its corporate and investment banking division amid market volatility in the first quarter, but said it had suspended its planned share buyback program due to a costly US trade blunder
The data releases include data on consumer confidence and euro area economic sentiment for April.