European stocks rise on Trump's Davos speech; Puma slumps

By Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap

(Reuters) -European shares closed higher on Thursday, buoyed by President Donald Trump's address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, while declines in heavyweight technology stocks tempered gains.

The pan-European STOXX 600 climbed 0.4% to close at 530.34 points, marking its seventh consecutive day of gains - its longest winning streak in over a month.

The benchmark had hit an all-time intraday high on Wednesday.

The STOXX 600 experienced a late-session jump as President Donald Trump delivered a speech remotely at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In his address, Trump called for an immediate reduction in interest rates and urged other nations to adopt similar measures.

He also said businesses should make their products in the U.S. if they want to avoid facing a tariff.

Limiting gains, were technology stocks that slid 1.5%, led by a 4.4% decline in computer chip equipment supplier ASML.

Puma slumped 22.8% as it delayed its margin target and said it would cut costs after reporting a worse-than-expected annual profit. Rival Adidas had on Tuesday reported better-than-expected preliminary fourth-quarter results.

Tech stocks had rallied in the previous session, spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump's mammoth spending plans for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Investor anxiety is mounting as Trump's persistent protectionist rhetoric looms large, with a pledge to impose tariffs on the European Union expected by February 1.

This backdrop of uncertainty is compounded by the anticipation of flash PMI releases for January from the Eurozone, Germany, France and Britain on Friday.

In 2024, investors faced the dual challenge of interpreting uneven economic data that signalled a sluggish recovery, while also navigating the dollar's surge following the U.S. election results in November.

Meanwhile, Euro zone consumer confidence held steady, offering little solace, as French industrial confidence took a hit, dropping to 95 points in January from December's 97.

The European Central Bank prepares to convene next week to decide on interest rates. With a rate cut almost a foregone conclusion, all eyes will be on the commentary of the central bank.

"The ECB-POLICY-RATES-82f6314e-6203-420b-bc8b-70a978546822>ECB looks set to cut its rates next week and signal that further reductions are likely," said Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief Euro-zone economist at Capital Economics.

"Beyond next week, the ECB-POLICY-RATES-82f6314e-6203-420b-bc8b-70a978546822>ECB looks set to keep cutting at a slow and steady pace,".

The banks index gained 1.8% after Swedbank proposed a larger-than-expected hike in its annual dividend and posted fourth-quarter operating earnings above market expectations. Its shares rose 4.2%.

Norway's central bank held its policy interest rate unchanged as expected at a 17-year high of 4.50% and maintained plans to start cutting borrowing costs in March.

Among other stocks, Swedish hygiene products maker Essity fell 6.7% after the company reported fourth-quarter core earnings below market expectations.

British auto distributor Inchcape fell 13.3%, with traders attributing the decline to a J.P. Morgan downgrade.

Scientific instruments maker Spectris surged 10.5% after its annual 2024 adjusted operating profit reached the upper-end range of analysts' expectations.

(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Arun Koyyur and Elaine Hardcastle)