European Shares Hold Steady Ahead Of NATO Summit

European stocks were steady on Thursday as U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Brussels for meetings of the NATO alliance, G7 and European Union.

With Europe depending heavily on Russian gas for heating and power generation, the European Union is split on whether to sanction Russia’s energy sector.

The pan European Stoxx 600 was marginally higher at 454.18 after declining 1 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX traded flat with a positive bias, France’s CAC 40 index rose 0.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent.

Clariant AG advanced 1.1 percent. The Swiss specialty chemical company said that it has joined the Renewable Carbon Initiative to prevent climate change.

Krones AG fell 1.7 percent. After making a strong start to fiscal 2022 with a very large order backlog, the packing and bottling machine manufacturer noted that the various uncertainties mean that the business environment remains challenging.

SGL Carbon jumped 3.6 percent. The carbon and graphite product manufacturer turned to profit in FY21 from a loss last year.

Daimler Truck Holding surged 8.2 percent. The company achieved its financial targets for 2021 despite significant supply chain headwinds.

Valneva, a specialty vaccine firm, declined 1.2 percent after its FY21 net loss widened from last year.

Renault SA edged up half a percent, reversing an early slide after saying it would suspend operations at its plant in Moscow.

Next Plc shares fell nearly 3 percent. The fashion retailer cut it profits and sales forecasts for 2022/23, citing the ongoing war in Ukraine and slowing growth.

Playtech rallied 2.3 percent. The gambling software development company reported that its fiscal 2021 post-tax profit was 686.7 million euros, compared to last year’s loss of 73.1 million euros.

Private equity firm 3i Group was moving lower. The company reported that its largest portfolio company Action generated fiscal 2021 net sales of 6.83 billion euros, up 23 percent from last year.

Source: Read Full Article