STOXX 600, FTSE, DAX, CAC, Nvidia

LONDON — European markets closed higher on Thursday as investors reacted to strong earnings by artificial intelligence darling Nvidia.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.5% by the end of the session, with most bourses and sectors in positive territory.

AI-related stocks were amongst those making gains, with Dutch semiconductor firms BESI and ASMI up 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively. Fellow Dutch firm ASML, which makes critical equipment for semiconductors, ended almost 0.4% higher.

Nvidia posted third-quarter results after the bell on Wednesday, topping forecasts for revenue and its fourth-quarter sales guidance. The chipmaker saw revenue jump 62% to $57.01 billion year-on-year and said it expects revenue of $65 billion in the fourth quarter. The stock was down about 0.9% in midday trade on Thursday.

“There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told investors on an earnings call. “From our vantage point, we see something very different.”

In Asia, chip stocks rallied in early trading Thursday, with Samsung Electronics and Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, climbing the region’s indexes.

Ben Barringer, global head of technology research and investment strategist at Quilter Cheviot, told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” that Nvidia had brought relief in two-parts: it beat gross margins, which is important for semiconductor stocks, but the firm also addressed market concerns head-on in its earnings call.

“They really went through and sort of tried to disprove pretty much all of the bear cases out there. They talked about scaling laws, they talked about all the different elements of demand, not just hyperscaler capex, but the model demand that they’re seeing from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, software demand, enterprise demand, sovereign AI,” Barringer said.

Elsewhere, BNP Paribas advanced 4.4% on Thursday. The French bank said it has raised its CET1 ratio target to 13% by 2027, and announced a 1.15 billion euro share buyback program.

Investors were also keeping an eye on defense-linked stocks after Europe’s Aerospace and Defense Index hit a two-month low on Wednesday and ended the day around 1.9% lower. The moves come as senior U.S. officials from the Pentagon arrived in Ukraine to work on a peace plan late on Wednesday. The index rebounded on Thursday, ending 0.5% higher.

British favorite Greggs edged lower, down more than 2%, after the ex-finance chief at WH Smith Robert Moorhead pulled out of an expected board position at the fast food and bakery chain. It follows an accounting probe into WH Smith, leading to the resignation of its Chief Executive Carl Cowling late on Wednesday. Shares of the retailer finished down 1.8%.

With earnings season cooling, it’s a quieter day for Europe. Investors may be watching Walmart, however, which is expected to post results before markets open in the U.S.

Data showed on Wednesday that…