12:15 PM EST, 02/26/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher in Wednesday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.99%, Germany's DAX climbed 1.73%, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.72%, France's CAC 40 advanced 1.15%, and the Swiss Market Index was up 0.13%.

In Germany, the GfK Consumer Climate index for March published by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions declined 2.1 from the previous month to -24.7 points.

"The current figures show no signs of a recovery in consumer sentiment in Germany," Rolf Burkl, a consumer expert at NIM, said in a statement. "The consumer climate has been stagnating at a low level since the middle of last year. There is still a great deal of uncertainty among consumers and a lack of planning security."

In France, the household confidence index rose to 93 in February from 92 the previous month, but remains below its long-term average of 100, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. INSEE said the proportion of households believing it is a good idea to save has reached a "historic maximum."

And in corporate news, the European Commission said Tuesday that it unconditionally approved Nokia's proposed acquisition of Infinera. The Commission said it determined that the transaction would not raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area.

Stellantis reported H2 adjusted earnings Wednesday of 0.08 euros ($0.08) per diluted share, down from 2.79 euros a year earlier. Net revenue for the half-year ended Dec. 31 was 71.86 billion euros, down from 91.18 billion euros a year earlier. Shares of the European automaker fell 4.5% in Paris trading.

BP said Wednesday that it has launched a strategic review of its Castrol unit. The oil and gas giant said it will consider all options but will focus on value creation. Proceeds from any potential transaction will go toward improving its balance sheet, BP said.

The Sandoz Family Foundation is selling about 26.5 million Novartis shares in a transaction expected to raise 2.6 billion Swiss francs ($2.90 billion), multiple media outlets reported Wednesday, citing Goldman Sachs. Novartis, the Sandoz Family Foundation, and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MT Newswires. Emasan, the investment arm of the Sandoz Family Foundation, could not be reached for comment. Shares of Novartis were down 3.7% on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich.

Anheuser-Busch InBev reported Q4 underlying earnings Wednesday of $0.88 per share, up from $0.82 a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $0.69. Revenue for the quarter was $14.84 billion, up from $14.47 billion a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $14.13 billion. Shares of the Belgian brewing company were up 8.6% on the Euronext stock market.