European stocks rise ahead of key PMI data; Nvidia boosts sentiment

Investing.com - European stock markets rose Thursday, continuing the Nvidia-inspired global surge as investors digested more earnings reports ahead of important regional business activity data. 

At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 1.3% higher, the CAC 40 in France traded up 1% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. gained 0.%.

Nvidia’s report boosts global sentiment 

Global sentiment received a boost overnight after Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s hotly anticipated quarterly report easily beat estimates, prompting sharp gains for the chipmaker in after-market trading.

Nvidia has been a top beneficiary of technology companies' race to build artificial intelligence into their products and services, meaning its outlook was seen as a major test of whether Wall Street's recent rally is likely to continue or potentially reverse.

The Nikkei index in Japan soared to a record high earlier Thursday, European indices have also pushed higher, and Nasdaq futures point to hefty gains for the tech-heavy index when Wall Street opens later in the session.

European earnings continue to emerge 

Back in Europe, there are more earnings to digest.

Lloyds (LON:LLOY) stock rose 0.7% after the U.K. lender reported a 57% jump in profit for 2023, as Britain's faltering economy and a charge for potential costs from a regulatory review into motor finance failed to put a major dent in its performance.

Rolls-Royce (OTC:RYCEY) stock soared over 8% after the U.K. engineering firm said annual profit more than doubled last year, and it forecast a further jump in 2024.

Nestle (SIX:NESN) stock fell 0.5% after the world’s largest packaged food company reported full-year organic sales growth slightly below expectations as higher prices prompted shoppers to seek out cheaper alternatives.

Eurozone PMI data due

There is also important economic data news to digest Thursday, with preliminary services and manufacturing purchasing managers’ index numbers from the eurozone in February due later in the session.

These will serve as a gauge of business activity in the region, as investors look for clues of when the European Central Bank will start its rate-cutting cycle in an attempt to support the region’s struggling economies.

The euro area also has final readings for consumer inflation in January, which is expected to confirm that annual inflation fell to 2.8%, a small drop from 2.9% seen the previous month.

Crude gains limited by U.S. inventory build

Oil prices edged higher Thursday, as gains on concerns over tightening global supplies due to disruptions in the Middle East have been limited by another hefty build in U.S. inventories. 

By 03:05 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% higher at $78.25 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.4% to $83.37 a barrel. 

Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. inventories grew by 7.2 million barrels in the week to February 16, much more than expectations for a build of 4.3 million barrels. 

While the build was smaller than the 8.5 million barrel build reported by the API for the prior week, it was a third straight week of builds in U.S. inventories, and signaled that the world’s largest fuel consumer remained well supplied.

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $2,041.45/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.0853.