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Euro shares make small gains on US data

Friday, October 26 16:45:56

European shares eked out small gains today after better-than-expected U.S. economic growth figures helped outweigh the impact on investor sentiment of yet more gloomy corporate outlooks.

The FTSEurofirst 300 provisionally closed up 0.2 percent at 1,097.94, after a choppy session that had initially been weighed by fresh concerns over the outlook for regional corporates.

Ericsson, Renault, Saint Gobain and Publicis among those reporting weak numbers or cutting outlooks in Europe.

These numbers came in the aftermath of disappointing earnings from global giants Apple and Amazon overnight.

The mood brightened somewhat in the afternoon, however, after data showed growth in the United States expanded at a 2 percent annual rate, just above the 1.9 percent estimate of analysts polled by Reuters.

"I don't think it's going to be a sustained rally. I just think there are too many question marks in terms of the earnings," Yusuf Heusen, a sales trader at IG, said.