European shares edge up on earnings relief; German DAX at record high

By Ankika Biswas and Khushi Singh

(Reuters) -European stocks climbed on Thursday as investors took comfort in upbeat earnings and an in-line U.S. inflation print, while Germany's benchmark index touched a record after preliminary data showed slowing inflation in the continent's top economy.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed 0.1% higher, led by a more than 1% advance in the insurance and construction and material sectors.

The STOXX 600 hit a record high last week, riding on stronger-than-expected earnings reports and a jump in technology stocks inspired by Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s blowout forecast. The flagship index also logged its fourth consecutive monthly gain.

The German DAX climbed 0.4% to a fresh all-time high after data showed cheaper energy prices slowed inflation down to 2.7% in February.

Other preliminary inflation readings from France and Spain suggested euro zone inflation dipped further, strengthening the case for European Central Bank rate cuts this year, even if data suggest a much slower decline in underlying prices. However, France's CAC 40 and Spain's IBEX 35 lost 0.3% and 0.7% respectively.

"The message here is we're still on the right track, but the road to normalization is likely to be rather long and not going to be a smooth ride ... It's not going to be a linear deceleration back to 2%," Barclays (LON:BARC) Private Bank chief market strategist Julien Lafargue said.

The broadly in-line figures indicate euro zone inflation, due on Friday, will show a slowdown to around 2.5% in February from 2.8% January, moving closer to the ECB's 2% target.

Also boosting sentiment were data showing the annual increase in U.S. prices was the smallest in three years, keeping the prospects of a mid-year Federal Reserve rate cut alive.

CRH (LON:CRH) jumped 6% as the Ireland-based building materials producer said it expects more profit growth after beating 2023 targets.

NN Group climbed 8.1% after the insurer announced higher-than-expected 2023 operating capital generation and hiked 2025 targets.

Subsea 7 advanced 5.3% after the Norwegian offshore service provider proposed shareholder returns of $1 billion over four years, while reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

Italian luxury group Moncler gained 5% following a sales beat, while Universal Music Group (AS:UMG) rose 4.9% after new savings targets and a fourth-quarter sales beat.

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On the flip side, Amadeus dropped 7.3% after Reuters reported Fiserv (NYSE:FI) and the Spanish travel booking group are competing to acquire payments processor Shift4 Payments.

Drugmaker Grifols tanked 34.9% after a 72% plunge in 2023 profit, while German semiconductor tools maker Aixtron lost 18.7% after forecasting a 2024 margin below expectations and a client reported the unexpected cancellation of one of its own major contracts.