In Europe, the stock markets opened on Thursday with varying performances. The Euro Stoxx 600 general index, representing the European stock market, was down 0.3 percent at the time of review. London’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.5 percent, while Germany’s DAX index was down 0.4 percent. Stockholm’s OMXS30 index was also down 0.3 percent.
Thursday saw the release of earnings reports from several large European companies, including Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Nestle, and Airbus. Deutsche Bank reported a 10 percent increase in profit to 1.275 billion euros in the first quarter, surpassing analysts’ expectations. Barcalys also exceeded forecasts, despite a decrease in profit to 1.55 billion pounds compared to the same period last year. Nestle, on the other hand, reported a 5.9 percent drop in revenue from a year ago.
Anglo American, a British mining giant, revealed that Australian competitor BHP had approached them with a purchase offer of 31.1 billion pounds. This potential deal, currently under evaluation by Anglo American’s board, could become one of the largest mergers in the mining industry in recent years.
Looking ahead, based on futures, Wall Street is expected to open lower.