European Stocks Mixed in Thursday Trading; Economic Expectations Lower in EU, Euro Area

12:10 PM EST, 02/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets were set to close mixed in Thursday trading as The Stoxx Europe was unchanged, Germany's DAX rose 0.4%, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4%, France's CAC gained 0.7%, and the Swiss Market Index was down 0.5%.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator for February decreased in both the EU and the euro area, falling 1 point to 98.3 for each, according to the European Commission. The Employment Expectations Indicator also declined compared to January, with the EU 0.7 points lower to 98.5, and the euro area down 0.6 points to 97.6. Both indicators continue to remain below their long-term averages of 100.

And in corporate news, Stellantis reported early Thursday it swung to an H2 adjusted loss of 0.60 euros ($0.71) per diluted share from an adjusted profit of 0.08 euros a year earlier.

Net revenue for the half-year ended Dec. 31 was 79.25 billion euros, up from 71.86 billion euros a year ago.

Shares of Stellantis rose 4.2% in Paris.

For 2026, the automaker said it continues to expect revenue to rise by a mid-single digit and to see sequential improvements from H1 to H2.

BNP Paribas and Apollo Global Management are close to entering a partnership to arrange loans for corporate and private equity clients in Europe, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Apollo and BNP did not immediately respond to a request to comment from MTNewswires.

Shares of BNP Paribas were down 0.1% in Paris.

GSK said Thursday that China's drug regulator has accepted for priority review its new drug application for its experimental treatment, linerixibat, for patients with primary biliary cholangitis, a rare autoimmune liver disease.

The filing is supported by results from a phase 3 trial that met its primary and key secondary endpoints, showing meaningful and sustained improvement in itching and sleep disturbance compared with placebo, the company said.

Separately, GSK said Japan also accepted for review its new drug application for experimental chronic hepatitis B treatment, bepirovirsen, in adults.

Shares of GSK were down 2.1% in London.

Nokia said Thursday it won an exclusive agreement to deploy network connectivity systems for 17 of Telefonica's new edge data centers in Spain.

The company will supply data center switches and service routers to connect localized computing systems and link the nodes to external networks, the company said.

Shares of Nokia dropped 3% in Helsinki, while Telefonica shares were down 1% in Madrid.

Eni reported Q4 earnings Thursday of 0.01 euro ($0.01) per diluted share, down from 0.06 euro a year earlier.

Sales from operations for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were 20.62 billion euros, down from 23.49 billion euros a year earlier. Four analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 18.63 billion euros.

Shares of the Italian oil and gas company gained 2.5% in Milan.

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