FTSE 100 continues to outperform at the open. Photo: Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images

The FTSE 100 and European stocks rose higher as a raft of upbeat earnings from blue-chip companies kept the UK index pinned near record levels.

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) rose 0.45% to 7,920 points at the open, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris jumped 1.05% to 7,194 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) climbed 1.25% to 15,604.

Asia-Pacific focused bank Standard Chartered (STAN.L) is the top riser, jumping over 7% this Thursday morning amid takeover rumours from First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).

Unilever (ULVR.L)rose 0.62% after the consumer goods giant reported quarterly underlying sales growth above expectations, helped by higher prices for its detergents, soaps and packaged food.

Unilever’s final results for 2022 shows that prices jumped by 11.3% over the last year. Sales volumes fell by 2.1%, as customers sought out cheaper alternatives, but that still gave the company underlying sales growth of 9%.

AstraZeneca (AZN.L) jumped 2.64% after the pharma company beat expectations with fourth-quarter profits after double-digit annual sales growth in 2022.

Entain (ENT.L)plunged 11.55%, after a Jefferies report pointed to MGM's chief executive officer saying the company had "moved on" from the gambling firm amid speculation of a takeover.

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Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) slipped and was trading at around $84/barrel, as optimism over recovering Chinese demand was offset by concerns of weakening activity in the United States.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) finished flat at 27,584 points, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong gained 1.47% to 21,597. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) also edged higher, rising 1.18% to 3,270 points.

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Across the pond, stocks closed lower on Wednesday as another bout of earnings results hit traders' desks and Wall Street weighed the outlook for interest rates after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled more hikes may be needed than markets are pricing in.



The Dow Jones (^DJI) lost 0.61% to close at 33,949 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.11% to finish at 4,117 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) dropped 1.68% to 11,910.

"So, the message is clear. The Fed is not done yet. This means that the rate hikes will continue, and that will continue pressuring the US yields higher as well," said Swissquote Bank's Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green as trade began in Europe.

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