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European markets close higher as earnings boost sentiment; AstraZeneca up 2.6%

Holly Ellyatt

This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European markets closed higher Thursday as momentum in markets picked up on the back of robust corporate earnings.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.8% by the close, having reversed opening losses. Industrials added 2.5% to lead gains while travel and leisure stocks dropped 2%.

Earnings remain a key driver of sentiment in European equity markets. Among the big names to report before the bell on Thursday were AstraZeneca, Deutsche Telekom, Henkel, ArcelorMittal and Wienerberger.

On Wall Street, The S&P 500 hovered near the flatline as the broad-market index struggled to build on its longest winning streak since November 2021.

Most Asia-Pacific markets edged higher overnight, with data from China showing consumer prices shrank faster than expected in October.

Afternoon biggest movers: Adyen up 33%, Azelis Group up 11%

Shares of Adyen soared more than 33% on Thursday to lead the Stoxx 600 after the Dutch payment company issued new targets deemed more realistic by the market.

Belgian food and chemicals distributor Azelis Group saw its shares jump more than 11% after reporting strong progress on margins over the first nine months of the year.

At the bottom of the European blue chip index, Danish health care company Coloplast fell more than 6% after missing fourth-quarter earnings expectations as inflation affected distribution costs.

- Elliot Smith

European stocks gather steam

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.8% by mid-afternoon, having reversed opening losses. Industrials added 2.1% to lead gains while travel and leisure stocks dropped 2%.

AstraZeneca climbs after raising earnings forecast

AstraZeneca shares climbed 2.8% on Thursday morning after the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant upped its annual earnings forecast and beat third-quarter expectations on the back of strong demand for its cancer drugs. It also announced a $2 billion deal to build its anti-obesity drug pipeline.

"The group's main priority remains on reinvesting in the business with an additional seven pivotal trials initiated in Q3 2023 and on track to initiate 30 over 2023," said Sheena Berry, healthcare analyst at Quilter Cheviot.

"This is a strong pipeline and will position AstraZeneca strongly for the future. There are some slight risks in that a couple of Enhertu breast trial readouts have been pushed to later than 2024, but we continue to expect a number of oncology readouts during the year so this is likely to be fairly minimal."

- Elliot Smith

Biggest movers: Adyen up 29%, Coloplast down 4%

Shares of Adyen soared more than 29% on Thursday morning after the Dutch payment company issued new targets deemed more realistic by the market.

At the bottom of the Stoxx 600 index, Danish health care company Coloplast fell 4.4% after missing fourth-quarter earnings expectations as inflation affected distribution costs.

- Elliot Smith

European stocks reverse losses

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.2% around an hour into trading, having reversed opening losses. Travel and leisure stocks sank 3.1% while industrials added 1.3%.

Europe stocks fall at the open

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was 0.34% lower at 8:25 a.m. London time, the only major index solidly in the red.

France's CAC 40 and the German DAX were flat. Italy's FTSE MIB was 0.32% higher and Spain's IBEX 35 rose 0.4% in early trade.

— Katrina Bishop

CNBC Pro: 'Golden opportunity': Morgan Stanley says it's a good time to buy gold stocks — and names its top global picks

Now is a good time to buy gold stocks, according to Morgan Stanley.

Tensions in the Middle East, brought on by the Israel-Hamas war, had triggered a gold "safe-haven" rally as investments in the precious metal picked up. The rally has since fizzled and gold spot prices have moved up some 0.05% in the year to date.

Notably, however, gold stocks underperformed gold prices by about 20% in the last three months, the investment bank's analysts said, naming several stocks to play the "golden opportunity."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

CNBC Pro: Want 8% yield? Buy 'fallen angels' in the U.S. bond market, BNP Paribas says

The bond bear market is the worst in more than 200 years, according to BNP Paribas' global chief investment officer.

But, he said, one corner of the bond market is an opportunity for investors: U.S. "fallen angels" in the high-yield credit segment.

CNBC Pro takes a look at some of the top-rated funds and exchange-traded funds, according to Morningstar.

Subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are expected to open higher Thursday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 22 points higher at 8,442, Germany's DAX up 26 points at 18,896, France's CAC 7 points higher at 8,244 and Italy's FTSE MIB up 64 points at 35,091, according to data from IG.

Earnings are due from Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance, Siemens, Deutsche Telekom, BT and EasyJet, among others. There are no major data releases.

— Holly Ellyatt