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ABB climbs as quarterly profit beats expectations

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Sartorius dives on Q1 miss

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Planisware shares jump in Paris trading debut

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ECB 'crystal clear' on June rate cut, de Guindos says

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STOXX 600 adds 0.3%

(Updated at 0854 GMT)

By Ozan Ergenay and Johann M Cherian

April 18 (Reuters) - European shares edged up on

Thursday, with industrials lifting the benchmark index following

ABB's upbeat results, while Germany-listed Sartorius was on

track for its biggest drop in six months after bleak quarterly

orders.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 was up 0.3%, as of

0854 GMT, as the earnings season picked up steam.

The industrials sector was the biggest boost with a

0.6% rise, driven by a nearly 5.2% surge in ABB as the

Swiss engineering company's profit trounced market expectations

in the first quarter.

On the flip side, shares of Sartorius slumped

11.5% after the lab supplies maker's first-quarter figures

missed analysts' expectations for order intake and revenue. The

Franco-German firm's France-listed shares dropped

13.0%.

As markets gear up for a flurry of corporate reports in the

weeks to follow, first-quarter earnings are expected to decrease

12.1% from the previous year, according to LSEG data, as of

Tuesday.

Subdued earnings could reflect a weakening economy, said

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank

said, thereby giving the European Central Bank a greater reason

to cut interest rates, which could boost risk appetite for

European stocks.

The benchmark STOXX is more than 2% away from its all-time

closing high hit in late March, as traders price in

uncertainties around geopolitical tensions, the impact of record

high European interest rates on corporate performances and the

timing of U.S. rate cuts.

Meanwhile, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de

Guindos said the

ECB has made it "crystal clear"

that interest rates could be cut in June but has also been

firm that policy decisions beyond that remain up in the air.

Among other stocks, Planisware jumped 25.1% in a

stellar debut for the French software group on the Euronext

Paris, adding momentum to a much-anticipated revival in initial

public offerings.

Danone rose 1.3% after the French company posted

stronger-than-expected quarterly sales, while Nokia

slipped 1.3% after the Finnish telecom gear maker's quarterly

profit figures missed estimates.

Forvia jumped 3.1% after the European automotive

supplier's organic sales growth came in slightly ahead of market

expectations for the first quarter.

easyJet climbed 3.3% to top the FTSE 100 index

after the UK airline forecast a smaller-than-expected

winter loss on increased flight demand.

On the data front, building permits for apartments in

Germany fell 18.3% in February from a year earlier, underscoring

a continued downturn in demand in the construction and real

estate industry.