European stocks close higher as BOE holds rates; Sabadell up 3% on fresh BBVA bid

Roger Jones, head of equities at London and Capital, on Thursday discussed the long-term view on investing around artificial intelligence.

“I think in the near term, quite often what you see from investors is they overestimate the possibilities. But actually in the longer term they tend to underestimate the possibilities, and we saw that with dotcom and the internet, very similar sort of phenomenon that we’ve seen. I think with AI, it’s going to take a while to monetize,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

The Bank of England is set to announce a hold in interest rates at midday, while traders are preparing to pore over the details of Governor Andrew Bailey’s messaging as anticipation builds for a potential summer rate cut.

Money market pricing suggests just under a 50% probability of a June cut, building to 80% in August, and a total reduction of 50 basis points this year.

Francesco Garzarelli, head of research at Eisler Capital, said investors would be paying attention to the split of votes from the nine voting members of the BOE’s Monetary Policy Committee for clues on the path ahead. The most recent March meeting saw eight votes to hold and one to cut.

“Bailey’s commentary will be important, and the outlook forecast,” Garzarelli told CNBC on Thursday.

Read more here.

— Jenni Reid

Telefonica shares were slightly lower in morning trade, after the Spanish telecom firm reported a 79% jump in net profit to 532 million euros ($571 million) in the first quarter.

Both net profit and revenue came in above an analyst consensus published by the company, according to Reuters.

The firm also confirmed a cash dividend of 0.3 euros, to be paid across December 2024 and June 2025.

— Jenni Reid

European equity markets were mixed early Thursday, as the recent flurry of earnings slowed and markets braced themselves for new messaging on the path of interest rates from the Bank of England.

The regional Stoxx 600 was down 0.06%, though major bourses were in the green, with Germany’s DAX up 0.3%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 were slightly above the flatline.

— Jenni Reid

Spanish bank BBVA on Thursday presented a hostile takeover offer to shareholders of rival Banco Sabadell, three days after an all-share merger was rejected by Sabadell’s board.

Spain’s second-largest bank reiterated its offer of one BBVA share for every 4.83 Sabadell shares, a 30% premium over both banks’ closing prices on April 29.

The offer is an “exceptionally favorable proposal,” BBVA said in a statement.

“The transaction has very positive financial impacts thanks to relevant synergies and the complementarity and excellence of both banks. The operation will create one of the best banks in Europe, with a loan market share close to 22 percent in Spain,” the bank added.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 index rose nearly 1%, extending gains after opening 0.2% higher, as the country’s customs agency released upbeat trade data.

While April imports topped estimates, exports rose in line with expectations.

China’s imports climbed 8.4% in April, compared with Reuters poll estimate of a 4.8% year-on-year rise. Exports rose 1.5% year on year in April in U.S. dollar terms, meeting expectations.

Exports and imports had both declined year on year in March.

— Shreyashi Sanyal, Evelyn Cheng

Copper has been on fire, touching $10,000 per ton this week.

Will McDonough CEO of merchant bank Corestone Capital says he has “not seen this level of interest and conversation on copper.”

“Copper is going through some serious spikes and prices are likely to be much higher in the future. I think it is the biggest investment opportunity right now,” he told CNBC Pro, naming stocks he is betting on right now.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

European markets are expected to open higher Thursday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 1 point higher at 8,369, Germany’s DAX up 4 points at 18,681, France’s CAC 14 points higher at 8,101 and Italy’s FTSE MIB up 30 points at 34,559, according to data from IG.

Earnings are set to come from Julius Baer, Acciona, Nationwide Building Society, Rolls-Royce, Aviva and Wizz Air. Preliminary euro zone services and manufacturing activity data for May is due, as are consumer confidence figures for the single currency area.

— Holly Ellyatt