12:00 PM EDT, 04/24/2025 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed higher in Thursday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 increased 0.38%, Germany's DAX gained 0.49%, the FTSE 100 edged 0.05% higher , France's CAC 40 was up 0.27%, and the Swiss Market Index rose 0.92%.

In Germany, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the government is forecasting GDP to stagnate for the year, which was attributed to global economic turbulence caused by US tariffs.

"The German economy is experiencing difficult waters: Global economic uncertainty has increased significantly due to the announced and partially suspended tariffs by the United States," the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Particularly said in a statement.

Meanwhile, business sentiment in Germany has improved slightly in April as the ifo Business Climate Index rose to 86.9 points, up from 86.7 points in March. The ifo Institute said that companies assessed their current situation more positively but that expectations have declined. "Uncertainty among companies has increased," the ifo said. "The German economy is bracing for turbulence."

In France, the Institute for Statistics and Economic studies said its household confidence index was unchanged in April at 92, and remains below its long-term average of 100. INSEE said the proportion of households believing that it is a good time to make major purchases has increased again.

And in corporate news, British consumer goods giant Unilever Chief Executive Fernando Fernandez said Thursday on a media call that Ben & Jerry's is not for sale and will remain a key brand in the company's soon-to-be spun-off ice cream division, Bloomberg reported. Unilever did not immediately reply to a request for comment from MT Newswires. Shares of the company were down 0.6% in London.

Finnish telecommunications company Nokia reported Q1 comparable earnings Thursday of 0.03 euros ($0.034) per diluted share, down from 0.09 euros a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 0.04 euros. Net sales for the quarter ended March 31 were 4.39 billion euros, down from 4.44 billion euros a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 4.20 billion euros.

Shares of Nokia tumbled 9.5% on the Nasdaq Helsinki exchange.

STMicroelectronics reported fiscal Q1 earnings Thursday of $0.06 per diluted share, down from $0.54 a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $0.04. Net revenue for the quarter ended March 29 was $2.52 billion, down from $3.47 billion a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $2.52 billion.

Shares of the French semiconductor company lost more than 6% on the Euronext Paris.

French pharmaceutical company Sanofi reported Q1 earnings Thursday of 1.79 euros ($2.04) per share, up from 1.53 euros a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was 9.90 billion euros, compared with 8.93 billion euros a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 9.95 billion euros. Shares of Sanofi edged 0.02% lower on the Parisian exchange.

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