Europe close: Stocks extend gains
European stocks were higher on Thursday as automotive stocks rose and European leaders pondered how long of an extension to the Brexit deadline they should grant.
By the end of trading, the Stoxx 600 was 0.59% higher at 397.37, as Germany's Dax climbed by 0.58% to 12,872.10 and the French CAC 40 added 0.55% to 5,684.33. In London, the FTSE 100 was up by 0.93% at 7,328.25.
Daimler racked up strong gains after it reported 8% growth in third quarter revenue on the back of strong sales of its Mercedes-Benz cars and vans, though the German automotive giant warned shareholders that they should expect a full-year loss due to legal costs.
Even so, news of its strong showing in the third quarter sent shares of fellow European car makers such as BMW or Peugeot higher while the Stoxx 600 sector gauge was ahead by 1.12%.
In Brexit news, reports suggested that EU leaders had agreed to offer the UK a deadline extension beyond 31 October, though it may be shorter than European Council President Donald Tusk's plan for a delay until 31 January.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said any sort of extension would likely assist sentiment in the near-term as traders prefered almost any option to a no-deal Brexit.
Meanwhile, in Frankfurt, European Central Bank chief, Mario Draghi, told a press conference that there was greater consensus on the governing council at Thursday's meeting regarding the monetary authority's decision in September to restart its programme of asset purchases.
It was Draghi's last GC meeting as ECB chief following his eight-year term.
In other macroeconomic news, IHS Markit’s 'flash' composite PMI for the Eurozone printed at 50.2, coming in above September's six-year low of 50.1 but below expectations for 50.3.
This came as the manufacturing PMI for the area failed to improve, holding steady at September’s level of 45.7 and missing the median expectation for 46.0, though the services PMI rose slightly to 51.8.
XTB analyst David Cheetham said: "Slowing activity in the manufacturing sector has been a theme for much of the year and is something of a global phenomenon, so this should come as little surprise but the main fear is that this slowdown begins to spread to the service sector.
"In this regard the Eurozone wide measure is still just about holding up ok but there are signs of softening in the bloc’s largest economy with the German services PMI falling to a three-year low and the prior reading also seeing a sizable decline."
Among individual stocks, Nokia sharesdove after the Finnish telecoms equipment maker cut its guidance for 2019 and 2020 and said that it was facing stiff competition in securing 5G network contracts.
Bucher Industries fell after an update showed a drop in order uptake over the first nine months of the year, with the Swiss company saying that it expected demand to continue to slow amid challenging market conditions.
Stock in French IT services provider Atos was in the green after it said it will acquire German SAP specialist X-Perion Consulting.
Alfa Laval also rose after third quarter core profits beat expectations and the Swedish industrial machinery manufacturer said it expected strong demand to improve even further in the fourth quarter.