Europe open: Shares up on strong earnings; Polymetal tanks on Kazkh news

European shares made a strong start to Thursday’s session as the corporate results dump continued.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.56% at 0830 GMT, with all major regional bourses higher. Shares in Hong Kong returned from the Lunar New Year holiday with a bang, gaining 2.37% and boosting sentiment in Europe.

In equity news, Spain’s Banco Sabadell surged 8% as it increased shareholder payouts and despite a fall in fourth-quarter earnings, driven by a loss at its UK TSB unit.

Russian gold miner Polymetal dived more than 20% on Wednesday’s announcement that it was looking to move its domicile and listing to Kazakhstan.

Hungary-based Wizz Air plunged despite narrowing third-quarter losses and reporting a rise in fares and bookings.

Sweden's SEB fell despite reporting a forecast-beating rise in fourth-quarter net earnings and a larger-than-expected dividend increase.

Finnish telecoms company Nokia gained 5% after beating quarterly operating profit expectations and forecasting higher 2023 sales.

Paris-listed chipmaker STMicroelectronics soared 8% after beating fourth-quarter sales expectations.

Swedish truck maker AB Volvo fell after it reported a slightly smaller rise than expected in fourth-quarter core profit.

Shares of German pharmaceutical company Sartorius climbed after its full-year earnings report.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com