European shares jump as earnings continue to impress

European shares opened higher on Friday as traders assessed a flurry of upbeat corporate updates from the region and as the index mirrored overnight gains on Wall Street after softer economic data and upbeat tech results.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.4%, as of 0830 GMT.

Danske Bank jumped 6.4% after the Danish lender reported fourth-quarter results and announced a share buyback program.


Mercedes-Benz shares advanced 2.3% after the German automaker reported its preliminary annual free cash flow (FCF) of the industrial business above market expectations.

The stock was among top performers on the German DAX 40 index, which rose 0.6%.

Riding the wave, technology stocks added 0.7%, tracking overnight gains in Meta Platforms and Amazon.com on posting better-than-expected quarterly results.

Aiding global sentiment, data showed U.S. worker productivity grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter on Thursday, keeping unit labour costs contained and helping the Federal Reserve in its fight against inflation. Markets will now await the U.S. jobs report, due later in the day.