Europe stocks hit fresh record high on earnings, Ukraine peace hopes

European stock markets were higher early Thursday, with the regional Stoxx 600 index up 0.49% at 8:15 a.m. in London.

Germany's DAX index jumped 1.05% and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.83%.

However, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.45% as investors weighed economic growth data and banking and energy stocks traded broadly lower.

Stoxx 600 index.

British bank Barclays on Thursday posted a rise in full-year pre-tax profit that came in just ahead of analyst expectations, while also launching a £1 billion share buyback.

Pretax profit rose by 24% to £8.108 billion in 2024, just above analyst expectations of £8.081 billion, according to LSEG. 

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— Ruxandra Iordache

The U.K. economy grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, beating expectations, according to a preliminary estimate from the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected the country's GDP to contract by 0.1% over the period.

The services and construction sectors contributed to the better-than-expected performance in the economy, up 0.2% and 0.5% respectively, but production fell by 0.8%, the ONS said.

Siemens CEO Roland Busch said Thursday that Europe needs to "pull back" its regulatory agenda and instead allow business more scope to innovate.

"We are overregulating in Europe, that is my belief. We should innovate and then regulate. We should pull it back," he told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick. "We are not against regulations, but we have to be mindful."

Busch also said that the German economy required a reset to support businesses and get growth back on track.

"We have to change something. We have to get this German economy back into a growth momentum, we cannot live with the contraction or very, very low growth," he said.

Technology group Siemens on Thursday reported better than expected first-quarter profits despite a "significant decline" at its factory automation business.

Profit in its industrial business fell 8% year-on-year to 2.52 billion euros ($2.62 billion) in the three months to Dec. 31, ahead of a company compiled forecast of 2.44 billion euros.

— Karen Gilchrist

Germany's second-largest lender Commerzbank on Thursday announced it will eliminate 3,900 full-time positions by 2028, largely in its native Germany, as it unveiled a spate of new strategic targets.

The job cuts will be accompanied by increases in staffing in "selected areas" such as in international locations, resulting in a broadly constant global headcount of 36,700, the bank said in its strategic update.

Revenue in 2024 came in at 11.1 billion euros, compared with 10.461 billion euros in 2023.

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Commerzbank share price.

Nestle, the world's largest packaged food company, on Thursday posted an anticipated decline in full-year sales growth but pointed to an uptick in 2025 assuming "no significant change in key macroeconomic variables."

Full-year organic sales rose 2.2%, meeting the forecast by LSEG analysts but well below the 7.2% recorded in 2023.

Net profit was 10.9 billion Swiss francs ($11.95 billion), in line with company compiled expectations.

Nestle in October cut its full-year outlook amid weak underlying sales growth, saying it expects 2024 organic sales of around 2% and an underlying trading operating profit margin of about 17%. This latter measure came in at 17.2% in 2024.

"From 2025, we expect our actions to drive an improvement in organic sales growth, with a lower underlying trading operating profit margin in the short term as we invest for growth. While there is macroeconomic uncertainty, we have lots of opportunities ahead of us, and we have the strategy, the resources and the people and team to deliver," CEO Laurent Freixe said in a statement.

Freixe took the reins in September, replacing Mark Schneider who was ousted after several quarters of weak sales.

— Karen Gilchrist

European markets are expected to open in higher territory Thursday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 9 points higher at 8,817, Germany's DAX up 229 points at 22,370, France's CAC up 80 points at 8,127 and Italy's FTSE MIB 308 points higher at 37,961, according to data from IG.

Traders will be keeping an eye on earnings from Siemens, Nestle, Swisscom, Pernod Ricard, Orange, Unilever, Legrand, Ferrovial, Barclays, British American Tobacco, Commerzbank, Thyssenkrupp and Moncler.

Data releases will include Germany's latest inflation rate and U.K. fourth-quarter gross domestic product, with economists expecting the British economy to have contracted 0.1% in the three months to December.

— Holly Ellyatt