European shares at record high on earnings boost  

European shares hit a record high on Thursday, with French stocks ‌leading gains among regional benchmarks as investors welcomed positive corporate earnings from the likes of Legrand and Hermes.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was ‌up 0.7% at 625.86 points as of 0809 GMT, with France's ‌CAC 40 index up over 1.4%. Legrand shares jumped 3.3% after the electrical and digital building infrastructure group said strong data centre demand was helping its expansion, supporting ⁠a ​slight increase in its ⁠medium-term profitability targets.

Hermes reported another quarter of steady revenue growth, lifted by strong sales ⁠in the U.S. and Japan, sending the shares of the luxury group ​2.3% higher. Investors globally were also relieved that U.S. data on Wednesday ⁠reflected a broadly resilient jobs market, while AI-disruption worries that had plagued equities over ⁠the ​past few sessions took a backseat temporarily. On the M&A front, money manager Schroders shot up 30% after U.S. asset manager ⁠Nuveen agreed to buy the UK company for 9.9 billion pounds ($13.5 billion), ⁠creating a ⁠group with combined assets under management of nearly $2.5 trillion. Financial services jumped 1.4% and led sectors higher.