European stocks rise with the support of French Saint-Gobain and Swedish Elekta

European stocks opened higher on Friday, February 24, supported by optimistic earnings reports from French building materials company Saint-Gobain and Swedish medical equipment Elekta.

The Stoxx 600 rose 0.4%, tracking the rally in Asian markets after the Bank of Japan’s exclusion of an early end to monetary easing pushed down global bond yields.

Saint-Gobain shares rose 5.5%, boosting the European construction and raw materials sector by 0.8%, after the company posted record annual revenues that exceeded analysts’ expectations of strong growth in all its regions on Thursday.

Elekta shares also jumped 7.7% to top the Stoxx 600 index after good profits in the third quarter.

While German chemical giant BASF shares fell 3.7%, as the company indicated a decline in its annual profits.

It said it plans to cut 2,600 jobs and halt buybacks.