European shares rise on upbeat earnings; ECB minutes in focus

European shares edged higher on Thursday, following three straight sessions of losses, lifted by Richemont and Flutter's upbeat results, while investors awaited release of the European Central Bank's policy meeting minutes due later in the day. The pan-European STOXX 600 index edged 0.1% higher by 0917 GMT, after falling to a six-week low in the previous session.

European shares edged higher on Thursday, following three straight sessions of losses, lifted by Richemont and Flutter's upbeat results, while investors awaited release of the European Central Bank's policy meeting minutes due later in the day.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index edged 0.1% higher by 0917 GMT, after falling to a six-week low in the previous session. Supporting the benchmark index, shares of Richemont climbed 8.7% after the Cartier jewellery owner's third-quarter sales trounced forecast, owing to a massive revenue jump in China.

Other luxury stocks including LVMH and Kering added nearly 2% and 1.6%, respectively, boosting the personal and household good index up almost 1%. Watches of Switzerland, on the contrary, slumped 28.3% to hit a three-year low after the luxury retailer slashed its annual revenue and profit margin forecast.

Investors now await minutes, scheduled for release at 1230 GMT, from the ECB's December meeting for clues on the central bank's interest rate path. The recent bevy of remarks from policymakers to push against market expectations have caused traders to scale back rate-cut bets, with the first cut now being priced in for April instead of March.

"It's definitely reflective of markets adapting to the central bank messaging that they're going to keep rates higher for longer," said Laura Cooper, senior macro strategist for iShares EMEA at BlackRock. "It does set up for more volatility in markets as we do see some adjustments here. But Europe is probably becoming more fairly priced than what we're seeing in the U.S."

Yield on the 10-year German government bond, the benchmark for euro zone, hovered near one-month highs touched in the previous session, last standing at 2.281%. Among other corporate updates, shares of online betting giant Flutter jumped 12% on reporting a surge in its fourth-quarter revenue.

Flutter's shares lifted the travel and leisure index up 3.7%, on track to record its best day in more than three months, if gains hold. The food and beverages index was a drag, down 0.3%, helmed by a 1.6% fall in Campari after RBC Capital Markets downgraded the Italian spirits maker to "underperform" from "sector perform" over concerns of volatility in recent quarterly results.

Technology stocks rose 1.1%, tracking positive quarterly results from Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC .