Europe midday: Stocks rise amid well-received corporate news

European stocks rose after a shaky start as investors waded through a torrent of earnings reports, most of which were well received.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 was 0.6% firmer and Germany’s DAX was up 0.6%.

The Greek stock market had been due to reopen this week but the Athens Stock Exchange said on Thursday that it’s unlikely to reopen as banks need to resolve some technical issues first.

Earnings came thick and fast on Thursday.

In London, defence and aerospace group Rolls-Royce rallied after the company reiterated its current full-year 2015 guidance and posted first-half numbers that were broadly in line with consensus.

AstraZeneca gained after its second-quarter earnings beat expectations as generic competition and the effects of a stronger US dollar were offset by the spinning off of assets and a good performance from the company’s Brillinta drug.

Asset manager Schroders was also on the front foot as it posted better-than-expected first half profit, on the back of strong demand for its fixed income products.

Royal Bank of Scotland was in the black after the bank reported a modest but better-than-anticipated increase in second-quarter profit.

Shares in Finland’s Nokia rocketed after its second-quarter profit came in ahead of analysts’ expectations, despite challenging market conditions.

Deutsche Bank pushed up as its second-quarter profit more than tripled on the back of strong trading revenue.

Engineering company Siemens rallied after its third-quarter profit came in ahead of expectations, while shares in Alcatel-Lucent rose sharply as it posted a surprise rise in second-quarter profit.

On the downside, BT Group was under pressure. Although the company’s first-quarter numbers were broadly in line, almost every division disappointed analysts’ expectations with only BT Wholesale ahead of consensus.

British Gas owner Centrica was also under the cosh after announcing that it will axe up to 4,000 jobs, as it posted a near doubling of its first-half profits.

Repsol shares dropped after the Spanish oil company posted a 20% fall in second-quarter net profit, hit partly by lower oil prices.

Although corporate news was the main focus, Wednesday’s statement from the Federal Reserve was also on investors’ minds.

“While things remain on the up for jobs, the other half of its mandate - inflation – along with external events (Greece, China) and a stronger dollar look like reasons which could allow it to hold off from a rate hike until year-end, even if the door has been left ajar for an - unlikely in our view - September move,” said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.

On the macroeconomic front, figures released earlier showed the German unemployment rate held steady at 6.4% in July. However, the number of unemployed people rose by 9,000, compared with expectations for a 5,000 decline.

Still to come, US initial jobless claims are due at 1330 BST, along with the first release of second-quarter gross domestic product figures.