European stock markets gained on Thursday, as investors analyzed earnings reports and awaited the Bank of England’s upcoming monetary policy decision.

The Stoxx 600, a key regional benchmark, was up by 0.75% at 9:37 a.m. London time, with most sectors showing positive movement.
Maersk, the shipping giant, experienced a 10.35% increase following the announcement of better-than-expected fourth-quarter profits, despite projecting a weaker performance for the year ahead.

Sector Performance and Notable Updates

The Stoxx autos index recovered from early losses, rising 0.6% as investors continued to assess the potential effects of U.S. tariffs.
Volvo Cars saw its stock decline by 9% after the company warned that 2025 would be a challenging year due to intensified competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers and a slowdown in market growth.
Carlsberg, the Danish brewer, reported a slight miss in fourth-quarter sales and forecasted lower growth in 2025.

Earnings Reports

Several major companies reported their earnings on Thursday, including:

ING
ArcelorMittal
AstraZeneca
Ørsted
Vinci
L’Oreal
Siemens Healthineers
Telenor

Bank of England’s Anticipated Rate Cut

The Bank of England is expected to announce its first interest rate cut of the year later today, a move that is expected to have significant market implications.

Global Market Trends

Asia-Pacific markets saw a mostly positive performance overnight, mirroring gains on Wall Street, as investors dismissed a week of trade-related volatility.
U.S. stock futures showed little movement on Wednesday night following consecutive winning sessions in the major U.S. indexes.

Societe Generale Reports Strong Earnings

Societe Generale experienced a 8.71% increase in shares early on Thursday, driven by robust quarterly and full-year profits.
The French bank’s net income more than doubled to €1.04 billion for the fourth quarter. Over the full year, net income rose by 69% to €4.2 billion.
The bank also announced a share buyback program of €872 million and proposed a €1.09 per share cash dividend, increasing its payout ratio to 50% of net income.
For the upcoming year, Societe Generale aims for over 3% revenue growth and a Return on Tangible Equity exceeding 8%.

European Market Outlook

The FTSE 100 led the European markets in early trading as sentiment continued to recover from a tariff-related sell-off earlier in the week.
The Stoxx 600 index rose by 0.68%, reflecting positive momentum across European stocks.