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LVMH climbs as quarterly sales placate industry concerns

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ASML slides on bleak new bookings in Q1

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Adidas at over two-year high on hiked forecast, strong Q1

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STOXX 600 adds 0.5%

(Updated at 0854 GMT)

By Ozan Ergenay and Johann M Cherian

April 17 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Wednesday,

though not too far off their one-month low, lifted by healthy

quarterly results from consumer companies LVMH and Adidas, while

investors kept a cautious watch on developments in the Middle

East.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 was 0.5% higher by

0854 GMT, helped by a 2.2% advance in the personal and household

goods sector.

Adidas jumped 6.3% to an over two-year high,

topping Germany's blue-chip index, as the sportswear

company hiked its outlook for 2024 after posting

better-than-expected preliminary results for the first quarter.

LVMH rose 4.4%, driving a 1.9% rise in the luxury

sector, after the world's largest luxury group's

quarterly sales rose 3%, offering some reassurance to investors

concerned about the industry's outlook, particularly in China.

"You've seen relatively strong performance from equities up

until last week and first-quarter earnings generally are about

somehow validating the moves that we've seen... and if corporate

profitability is as resilient as people hope," said Richard

Flax, chief investment officer at Moneyfarm.

Keeping a lid on gains, the technology sector

dropped 2%, hauled down by ASML's 4.6% slide after

Europe's biggest tech firm reported weaker-than-expected new

bookings in the first quarter.

With interest rates at record highs, investors are keeping a

close eye on the health of corporate Europe this earnings

season. The technology sector is in the spotlight, having

spearheaded the benchmark index's rally since late last year due

to optimism over the proliferation of artificial intelligence.

Overall first-quarter profits are expected to have declined

12.1% from the previous year, according to latest LSEG data.

On the data front, euro zone inflation slowed across the

board in March, reinforcing expectations for a European Central

Bank interest rate cut in June, even as rising energy costs and

a weak euro cloud the outlook, final data from Eurostat showed.

In that light, investors will be tuned into remarks from ECB

policymakers, including Isabel Schnabel, Piero Cipollone and

Pablo Hernandez de Cos, later in the day.

Among other stocks, Continental lost 4.4%, to the

bottom of the DAX, after the automotive supplier's first-quarter

revenue and profit margin missed expectations.

TomTom slumped 11.3% on a wider-than-expected

first-quarter core loss, while Just Eat Takeaway's

downbeat first-quarter orders sent its shares 4.4% down, to the

bottom of the STOXX index.