EUROPEAN MARKETS CLOSE HIGHER AS STOCKS RISE ON LATE BUYING

FRANKFURT, Nov 22 (Bernama-dpa-AFX) -- European stocks closed higher on Thursday with some markets moving into positive territory well past mid afternoon, as investors digested regional and US economic data, and corporate news, the German news agency dpa reported.

The mood remained cautious with investors digesting quarterly results from AI chipmaker Nvidia. While earnings surpassed quarterly estimates, the company's sales forecast for the current period has turned out to be somewhat disappointing.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.41 per cent. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.79 per cent, Germany's DAX closed up 0.74 per cent and France's CAC 40 ended 0.21 per cent up, while Switzerland's SMI gained 0.45 per cent.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed higher.

Denmark, Iceland and Russia ended weak, while Finland closed flat.

In the UK market, Halma rallied by about 5.75 per cent after the company reported strong quarterly results. Beazley gained 3.6 per cent. Rolls-Royce Holdings, Diploma, B&M European Value Retail, Marks & Spencer, Experian, Hiscox, 3i Group, Centrica, Airtel Africa, Bunzl, BAE Systems, Next, BP, Shell, Entain and Pershing Square Holdings gained in the range of 1.7 per cent to 3 per cent.

JD Sports Fashion shares tanked 15.5 per cent following a profit warning. The company recorded a decline in like-for-like sales for the third quarter, citing a volatile market environment. However, the company posted a rise in organic sales. 

Also in the UK, Vodafone Group closed down by 3.3 per cent. National Grid, Vistry Group, BT Group, Croda International, British Land and Fresnillo lost 1 to 2 per cent.

In Germany, Qiagen, Siemens Energy, Hannover Rueck, Allianz, Munich RE, SAP, MTU Aero Engines, Rheinmetall, Fresenius, Fresenius Medical Care and Zalando saw gains ranging from 1.3 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

Porsche, Puma, Brenntag, Continental, Siemens Healthineers, Adidas and Commerzbank each saw a decline from 1 per cent to 2.7 per cent.

In Paris, Schneider Electric, Airbus Group, Eurofins Scientific and L'Oreal closed up by 1.1 per cent to 1.5 per cent.

Kering ended down by 3.25 per cent. Teleperformance, Bouygues, Vivendi, Carrefour, Danone, Pernod Ricard, Orange and Essilor drifted down by 0.5 per cent to 1.25 per cent

On the economic front, the confidence among French manufacturers rebounded somewhat in November after weakening sharply in the prior month.

The manufacturing sentiment index rose to 97 from 93 in October, according to INSEE. However, the index is still below its long-term average of 100. The expected score was 95.0. All of the balances of opinion defining the climate have contributed to its rebound, except the general output prospects.

-- BERNAMA-dpa-AFX