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ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER STOXX RECORD

Europe's broad STOXX 600 rose to a new record high on Thursday, and was set for its fourth straight day of gains, as optimism around potential peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, helped the market digest some weak earnings.

The STOXX .STOXX jumped at the open and was last up around 0.2%, with beaten-down autos, up 3%, making them the top gainer from a sector perspective.

U.S. President Donald Trump said both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed a desire for peace in separate phone calls with him on Wednesday, and Trump ordered top U.S. officials to begin talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

That broad good news helped mask some brutal market reactions to earnings.

British American Tobacco BATS.L fell 8.% after it said it would take a 6.2-billion pound ($7.74 billion) hit from a Canadian lawsuit and warned of "significant" headwinds in Bangladesh and Australia in 2025, sending its shares down over 7%.

Unilever UNVR.L slumped 6% after its sales growth missed expectations and it said it would demerge its ice cream business, and Barclays BARC.L fell 5.2% as investors saw its results as a chance to sell the shares after strong recent gains.

With all those in London, its no surprise perhaps that the FTSE 100 blue chip index is down 0.86%. .FTSE

(Alun John)

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