12:17 PM EDT, 10/23/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed mostly higher in Thursday trading as the Stoxx Europe gained 0.44%, Germany's DAX rose 0.28%, the FTSE in London advanced 0.67%, France's CAC was up 0.23%, while the Swiss Market Index was down 0.45%.

The consumer confidence indicator flash estimate released by the European Commission increased for the second straight month, rising 0.8 percentage points in the EU and 0.7 percentage points in the euro area to -13.5 points and -14.2 points respectively.

"Confidence moved closer to its long-term average, breaking a broadly flat trend since April 2025," The Commission said in a statement.

In Switzerland, the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank decided to leave the SNB policy rate unchanged at 0%. The Bank said the decision was based on an analysis of monetary policy and economic conditions.

And in corporate news, Shares of Rentokil climbed 11% higher in London trading after it reported Thursday accelerated revenue growth in North America in its Q3 trading update.

"In North America, it is pleasing to see the actions we have taken to improve sales execution and to evolve our digital marketing strategy are driving positive lead flow and overall sales momentum in the quarter," Chief Executive Andy Ransom said in a statement.

French luxury goods company Kering's stock rose nearly 9% in Paris after it said its Q3 revenue saw a "sharp sequential improvement" from the previous quarter. It also said that its North American sales "returned to growth."

Lloyds Banking Group ( LYG ) reported Q3 earnings Thursday of one pence ($0.013) per share, down from 1.9 pence a year earlier. The company also revised its 2025 underlying net interest income to 13.6 billion pounds, up from its previous estimate of 13.5 billion pounds.

Shares of the British lender gained 1.2% in London.

Nokia ( NOK ) shares surged more than 10% in Helsinki trading after it reported Q3 comparable earnings Thursday of 0.06 euro ($0.07) per diluted share, unchanged from a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 0.05 euro. Net sales for the quarter were 4.83 billion euros, compared with 4.33 billion euros a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 4.67 billion euros.