European shares hit fresh nine-month high on earnings boost

(Reuters) - European shares touched a fresh nine-month high on Thursday as Germany's Siemens AG and UK's AstraZeneca boosted earnings euphoria, and helped offset concerns over hawkish Federal Reserve speakers stressing the need for more interest rate hikes.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.8% at 0820 GMT, extending gains for the third straight session.

Industrials was the top sector index performer, bolstered by 6.3% gains in Siemens on better-than-expected earnings and higher full-year sales guidance.

Electric component maker Legrand jumped 7.5% on 2022 revenue and operating profit beat.

A near 2% gain in AstraZeneca on better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and a 3.5% rise in Bayer, after replacing its CEO early, boosted the healthcare sector.

Among the top laggards, Credit Suisse Group slid 5.3% on reporting the worst annual loss since the 2008 global financial crisis and warning that a further "substantial" loss would come this year.

Volvo Cars fell 2.5%, as the Swedish carmaker sees 2023 likely to be another challenging year after reporting a fall in quarterly profit.

Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday hinted that more rate rises were on the table to further cool inflation, although none suggested that January's hot jobs report could trigger a more aggressive monetary policy stance.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; editing by Eileen Soreng)