12:02 PM EDT, 09/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher in Thursday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.79%, Germany's DAX gained 1.33%, the FTSE 100 was up 0.21%, France's CAC advanced 0.87%, and the Swiss Market Index increased 0.42%.

The seasonally adjusted production in construction rose 0.5% in the euro area and 0.6% in the EU in July, compared with June, according to preliminary estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Compared with a year earlier, construction production grew 3.2% in the euro area and 3.6% in the EU.

In Germany, services producer prices increased 2.1% in Q2 compared with a year earlier, according to the Federal Statistical Office. The increase in prices "were due to increases in personnel, materials, and energy costs in many service sector," the FSO said in a statement.

And in corporate news, food-products company Danone said in a regulatory filing Thursday that it is no longer pursuing the acquisition of Lifeway Foods. The company is now in the process of reviewing alternatives for its investment in Lifeway, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Danone shares were off 0.6% in Paris.

AstraZeneca said Thursday the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a supplemental new drug application updating Airsupra's prescribing information to include findings from a phase 3b trial in adults with mild asthma. The study showed that Airsupra reduced the risk of a severe asthma exacerbation by 46% compared with albuterol, the company said.

Shares of the pharmaceutical company declined 1.3% on the FTSE 100.

Swiss financial services giant UBS has "no other realistic option" but to relocate its headquarters away from Switzerland, as the country's new strict capital proposals make it "not viable" to run a large international bank, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, quoting activist investor Cevian Capital as saying.

Cevian, which holds a 1.4% stake in UBS, said Swiss government proposals would require UBS to hold as much as $26 billion in extra capital, the report said.

UBS did not immediately respond to an MT Newswires request for comment.

Shares of UBS gained 0.52% in Zurich.