Europe midday: Shares hold gains on earnings news, but Polymetal fades

European shares were higher on Thursday as the corporate results dump continued, with solid earnings underpinning sentiment, although Polymetal lost its shine as it mulled moving its London listing.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.66% at 1138 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.

Investors are now focused on fourth-quarter US GDP data. CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said markets were expecting a slowdown from a strong prior three months.

"Expectations are for a modest slide to 2.5%, although with signs in recent months that consumer spending is slowing you might think that there could be considerable downside risks to that estimate."

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 as investors fretted about short-term profitability, despite the carrier 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