Europe close: Stocks finish modestly higher

European stocks were mostly higher on Thursday even as the European Central Bank delivered a historic 75 basis point interest rate hike.

"It has been slow going, but stocks look like they are in a mood to continue yesterday’s rebound. The mood hasn't been helped by the ECB, which has put investors on notice that the new policy of sharp interest rate hikes is here to stay for a while, but overall the mood seems to be much more positive than might have been expected in a week that has seen Russia cut Europe off from gas supplies," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"The selling of late August and early September seems to have been exhausted for now, although the broader outlook is still less than encouraging.”

The benchmark Stoxx 600 index was up 0.5% at 414.09, while France’s CAC 40 was 0.33% higher to, although Germany’s DAX ended the day 0.09% lower to 12,904.32.

In corporate news, London-listed Darktrace tumbled after tech investment firm Thoma Bravo said it will not be making an offer for the cybersecurity group. Darktrace said in a statement that the two parties had been unable to reach an agreement on the terms of an offer.

Primark owner Associated British Foods also suffered heavy losses as it warned that adjusted operating profit and earnings per share for the next financial year will be lower than this financial year.

Elsewhere, Philips edged up despìte reports that French prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into a respiratory device recall by the medical device maker.