12:15 PM EST, 01/29/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed mostly higher in Wednesday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5%, Germany's DAX gained 0.9%, the FTSE 100 in London was up 0.3%, France's CAC 40 was down 0.3%, and the Swiss Market Index advanced 0.6%.

In Germany, consumer sentiment began the year with a "bumpy start," according to market research firm GfK, whose consumer sentiment index reading for January declined to -22.4 from -21.4 in December.

"Both economic and income expectations as well as the willingness to buy suffered losses in January," GfK said. "The willingness to save, on the other hand, recorded slight increases."

In Italy, the consumer confidence index for January rose to 98.2 from 96.3 in December, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics. Istat also reported that the business confidence index for manufacturing rose to 86.8 in January from 85.9 the previous month, and that the index for the construction sector climbed to 104.2 from 100.9. Meanwhile market services confidence declined to 99.0 from 99.6, as did retail trade, which was down to 106.5 from 106.9.

In corporate news, British alcoholic beverage company Diageo said Tuesday that it is selling its 80.4% stake in Guinness Ghana Breweries to Castel Group for $81 million. The company will keep ownership of the Guinness brand, which will be licensed to Guinness Ghana through a long-term deal.

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said Tuesday the US Food and Drug Administration approved its Ozempic to reduce the risk of kidney failure, worsening kidney disease and death due to cardiovascular disease in adults with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

BJSS, a UK-based technology and engineering consultancy, has agreed to be acquired by Canadian IT consulting firm CGI.

Luxury goods stocks were slumping in Wednesday trading in Paris as Kering and Louis Vuitton fell 5.8% and 5.2% respectively, while L'Oreal and Pernod Ricard were down 2.6% and 2.5% respectively.