European shares climb on earnings boost ahead of ECB policy verdict

By Paolo Laudani and Ankika Biswas

(Reuters) -Stocks in Europe regained some lost ground on Thursday as investors eyed a dovish outlook on top of an expected European Central Bank interest rate cut during the day, while parsing a largely upbeat set of corporate earnings.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index gained 0.4% at 0820 GMT, following a two-day decline.

The ECB is expected to further trim its interest rates by 25 basis points at 1215 GMT (8:15 a.m. ET), following a similar-sized cut in September. This would mark its first back-to-back rate cuts in 13 years.

With inflation slowing and the bloc in worse shape, money markets will look for any clues to justify their expectations of three further reductions through March 2025.

"The ECB might be willing to be a bit more straightforward in their communication suggesting further cuts are coming in," said Barclays Private Bank chief market strategist Julien Lafargue.

However, the bank might also wait for the upcoming U.S. elections before giving any clearer guidance, Lafargue added.

Another metric to feel the pulse of the euro zone will be the September inflation data, scheduled ahead of the policy decision.

Finnish bank Nordea rose 5.5%, supporting a more than 1% rise in the bank index, after raising its forecast and announcing a new share buyback programme.

The lenders' index, which has been among the biggest beneficiaries of historically high interest rates, was the day's top sectoral gainer.

Shares of Germany's Sartorius rose 12%, topping the STOXX 600, after its third-quarter results and confirming its full-year outlook.

Airbus rose 3% on the aerospace group's plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs in its defence and space division.

British pest control company Rentokil Initial said it will expand initiatives to increase organic growth in North America and posted a quarterly group revenue growth of 3.6%, sending its shares up as much as 10%.

Shares of Schindler, a Swiss firm important to gauge the condition of the real estate sector, rose 2% after reporting growth in third-quarter orders and sales.

Nestle shares were up 2%, reversing their early losses that had come on the back of the Nescafe coffee maker's sales miss and its expectations that customer demand will remain soft.

On the flip side, Mondi dropped 7% after the British packaging company reported a lower third-quarter core profit.

Nokia fell 3% after its quarterly sales missed estimates.

(Reporting by Paolo Laudani in Gdansk and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)