12:20 PM EDT, 10/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher in Thursday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.84%, the Swiss Market Index advanced 0.91%, France's CAC climbed 1.22%, the FTSE in London was up 0.67%, and Germany's DAX gained 0.80%.

The European Central Bank's Governing Council cut its three key interest rates by 25 basis points Thursday, which it said is based on its updated assessment of the inflation outlook, among other factors. It was the third time the ECB lowered interest rates this year.

"The incoming information on inflation shows that the disinflationary process is well on track," the ECB said in a statement. "The inflation outlook is also affected by recent downside surprises in indicators of economic activity." The Bank added that it expects inflation to rise in the coming months before "declining to target in the course of next year."

Meanwhile, annual inflation rate in the euro area declined to 1.7% in September from 2.2% in August and 4.3% a year earlier, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The annual inflation in the European Union dropped to 2.1% in September from 2.4% in August and 4.9% a year earlier. The lowest annual rates were in Ireland (0.0%), Lithuania (0.4%), Slovenia and Italy (0.7% each), while the highest annual rates were in Romania (4.8%), Belgium (4.3%), and Poland (4.2%).

Eurostat also reported that preliminary estimates showed a 4.6-billion-euro ($4.98 billion) surplus in the Euro area in trade in goods with the rest of the world in August, down from 4.8 billion euros a year earlier.

And in corporate news, shares of Rentokil rose nearly 9% in Thursday trading in London after it reported Q3 group revenue growth and organic revenue growth of 3.6% and 2.6% respectively. The British pest control company also said it has taken "action plans" to increase organic growth in North America.

European automaker Stellantis was strongly urged by the White House on Wednesday to follow through on its pledge to unionized workers to return jobs to US already hit by plant closures rather than expand to Mexico or other countries. "We want to see Stellantis deliver on those commitments to the UAW," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said during her daily news briefing.

BHP said Thursday that its fiscal Q1 iron ore output rose 2% year-over-year to 64.6 million metric tons. The mining company said copper output increased 4% year-over-year to 476,300 tons, while steelmaking coal production fell 19% year-over-year to 4.5 million tons. Shares of BHP closed 2.4% lower in London.

And telecommunications company Nokia reported Q3 comparable earnings Thursday of 0.06 euros ($0.07) per diluted share, up from 0.05 euros a year earlier but short of the 0.07 euros expected among analysts polled by Capital IQ. Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 4.33 billion euros, down from 4.71 billion euros a year earlier and below the 4.79 billion euros expected among analysts surveyed by Capital IQ. Shares closed 2.5% lower in Helsinki.

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