European Markets Finished Mostly Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - The majority of the European markets ended Thursday's session with modest gains, adding to the gains of the previous 4 trading sessions. However, the markets were stuck in a sideways trend for much of the session, as investors turned cautious ahead of this weekend's meeting of major oil producers in Doha. A mixed start to the earnings reporting season in Europe also contributed to the cautious atmosphere.

Investor sentiment was also impacted after Burberry warned of challenging market conditions ahead. Commodity prices were under pressure as the U.S. dollar continues to strengthen.

Bank of England policymakers unanimously decided to leave interest rates and the scale of the quantitative easing unchanged for a third straight month as they expressed concern that a vote in favor of the U.K. exiting the European Union would cause extended uncertainty and hurt the economic outlook.

The rate has been at this low level for seven years and the vote has been unanimous after policymaker Ian McCafferty dropped his call for a quarter point rate hike in February for the first time since July 2015.

Policymakers also unanimously voted to maintain the quantitative easing at GBP 375 billion.

"[EU membership] referendum effects are likely to make macroeconomic and financial market indicators harder to interpret over the next few months, and the Committee is likely to react more cautiously to data news over this period than would normally be the case," the bank added.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.71 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.56 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.67 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.47 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.03 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 1.09 percent.

In Frankfurt, BASF was the top gainer, with an increase of 2.12 percent. Linde also finished higher by 1.08 percent.

Beiersdorf climbed 1.14 percent and Henkel added 1.05 percent.

In Paris, catering, facilities management and vouchers group Sodexo dropped 3.14 percent despite reporting a rise in first-half profit and confirming FY16 targets.

In London, Rio Tinto slipped 0.11 percent after reversing its controversial decision to double its payment period on its supply contracts.

Burberry Group tumbled 3.64 percent. The luxury fashion house warned of lower profit for the fiscal year 2017 after reporting a decline in same-store sales growth for the second half.

Royal Bank of Scotland rose 0.87 percent after announcing it would axe around 600 jobs at its U.K. consumer bank.

Shares of media group Entertainment One jumped 13.56 percent on a Bloomberg report that it has been approached by ITV over a possible takeover. The company, meanwhile, denied that it had received any bid approach. ITV shares rose 1.46 percent.

Recruiting firm Hays climbed 7.33 percent on reporting like-for-like fees growth of 4 percent in the third quarter.

Homebuilders were under pressure after UK surveyors warned of a soft patch in housing. Persimmon sank 5.99 percent and Barratt Development dropped 3.78 percent. Berkeley Group sank 3.72 percent and Taylor Wimpey fell 2.48 percent.

Nestle advanced 1.97 percent in Zurich. The food group confirmed its full-year outlook after reporting first-quarter sales that beat analysts' estimates.

Unilever dropped 1.52 percent in Amsterdam. The consumer goods maker left its annual sales growth target range unchanged after reporting a rise in underlying sales for the first quarter on improved volume and pricing in emerging markets.

Euro area consumer prices were unchanged in March after a decline in the previous month, revised data from Eurostat showed Thursday.

The consumer price index showed no change from the same month a year ago, following a 0.2 percent drop in February. Headline inflation initially reported for March was a 0.1 percent fall, a second straight decline.

The house price balance in the United Kingdom weakened considerably in March, the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed on Thursday with a score of 42 percent. That was well shy of forecasts for a reading of 50 percent, which would have been unchanged from February.

Consumer prices in the U.S. saw a modest increase in the month of March, the Labor Department revealed in a report on Thursday, with the uptick in prices falling short of economist estimates. The Labor Department said its consumer price index inched up by 0.1 percent in March after dipping by 0.2 percent in February. Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.2 percent.

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the week ended April 9th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 253,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 266,000.

The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 270,000 from the 267,000 originally reported for the previous week.