The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP +0.40% went from mediocre gains to an afternoon advance of 0.5% to 287.55, coininciding with the release of U.S. economic data. The benchmark barely budged on Wednesday, amid concerns about global economic growth.
Wall Street traded broadly higher in the wake of the data, which showed initial jobless claims falling last week and construction of new homes rising more than 12% in December. U.S. investors also absorbed some big bank earnings. Read: Stock futures add to gains on upbeat data .
Calling the U.S. data “good,” ETX Capital market strategist Ishaq Siddiqi also observed that European indexes “have been unnecessarily sold in recent days on global growth fears.”
In emailed comments, he added: “We definitely have some bargain hunters out there entering the market for that reason.” An earlier bond auction out of Spain also lifted sentiment, Siddiqi said. Read more: Dollar slips, euro boosted as Spain sells debt
Earnings news poured out of several different sectors on Thursday in Europe, with several food and beverage companies offering updates.
Among the top gainers for the Stoxx 600, shares of Carrefour SA FR:CA +6.42% rose more than 6%.
The French retailer reported a 0.8% rise in adjusted fourth-quarter revenue. Giving guidance for 2012 recurring operating profit, Carrefour said it was “comfortable with the current median consensus which stands at around EUR2.07 billion.” Read: Carrefour confirms operating profit view; sales up
Carrefour’s rally helped the French CAC 40 index FR:PX1 +0.99% gain nearly 1% to 3,744.45. Some banks also helped out in Paris, with shares of BNP Paribas SA FR:BNP +1.56% rising 2.6% and Credit Agricole SA FR:ACA +0.40% adding 2.8%.
Shares of Delhaize Group BE:DELB +8.00% also jumped, rising more than 8% after the Belgian food retailer said fourth-quarter sales increased 1.9%, which comes after several quarters of losses.
Advertising also got a nod Thursday, as shares of JCDecaux FR:DEC +4.49% surged 6.5%.
And Mediaset SpA IT:MS +8.29% soared nearly 9% — the Stoxx 600 index’s top gainer — to €1.90 after Credit Suisse analysts upgraded it to outperform from underperform, and lifted its price target to €2.65 from €2. The analysts, negative on Mediaset for more than two years, said they believe 2013 will be the “trough year” for Italian advertising.
They added that the full value of its 41% stake in Mediaset Espana hasn’t been fully reflected in share prices and that the stock remains inexpensive.
On the downside, Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO -0.55% RIO -0.27% fell less than 1% in London, paring deeper earlier losses, after Tom Albanese stepped down as the mining group’s chief executive. Rio Tinto said it would book a $14 billion impairment charge against the value of its aluminum unit, along with Mozambique coal assets. Read: Rio Tinto CEO steps down after US$14 bln charge
However, analysts at Citigroup upgraded Rio Tinto to buy from neutral, saying: “We believe the market will perceive today’s write-downs and management changes negatively in the short term but ... will be positive for the stock and the sector longer term.”
The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX +0.38% also joined in afternoon gains, up 0.3% to 6,124.98. Shares of banking heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC HBC +0.46% UK:HSBA +0.66% rose 0.5%, while Barclays PLC UK:BARC +0.46% BCS -0.05% added 0.6%.
Elsewhere, the German DAX 30 index DX:DAX +0.78% rose 0.8% to 7,749.14, as shares of utility E.On SE DE:EOAN +0.66% added more than 1%. Financials also rose, with Munich Re DE:MUV2 +0.93% moving up 1.3%.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid. Follow her on Twitter @bkollmeyer.
