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(Reuters) – European stocks ended higher on Thursday, boosted by strong British American Tobacco profits and a multibillion dollar merger in the financial sector, helping to dissipate hasty early trading after the US central bank reduces the possibility of a series of interest rate reductions.
The European Stoxx 600 index ended up 0.5% after a 7% rise in British American Tobacco after sales exceeding expectations for the first half and a forecast of better performance for the second half.
The London Stock Exchange (LSE: Lote, Profile, Research) rose 6.5% after officially announcing a $ 27 billion merger with Refinetiv Financial Information, pushing the European financial services index upwards 2.3% among the top winners.
Thomson Reuters, the parent company of the Reuters news agency, owns 45% of the capital of Reventive and will hold 15% of the London Stock Exchange.
The European banking sector has been supported by the positive results of major European banks such as Barclays, Standard Chartered and Societe Generale.
The oil and gas sector index fell 1.5% as Royal Dutch Shell dropped sharply after its second-quarter profit dropped to a 30-month low, as prices for the oil and gas sector fell sharply. gasoline and refining margins have dropped.
The sectoral natural resources index closed down 3%, its largest decline in a day since December 2018, as Rio Tinto's shares on the London Stock Exchange fell despite the announcement of the first quarter. a 12% jump in first-half profits and generous shareholder dividends. .
The British FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was lower than its European counterparts and closed down 0.2%, penalized by a gloomy mood caused by the Bank of England's deterioration of its growth prospects in Britain in the face of concerns over the exit from the European Union and the global economic downturn.
(Reuters)
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