In Europe, the stock markets opened on Thursday with mixed results. The Euro Stoxx 600 general index was down 0.3 percent, while London’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.5 percent and Germany’s DAX index was down 0.4 percent. Stockholm’s OMXS30 index also saw a decline of 0.3 percent.

Several large European companies, including Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Nestle, and Airbus, were gearing up to release their earnings reports on Thursday. Deutsche Bank reported a profit increase of 1.275 billion euros in the first quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 275 million euros. The company’s net sales also rose by 1 percent year-on-year to 7.8 billion euros, close to the forecast of 7.73 billion euros.

Barclays also surprised analysts with a first-quarter profit fall of £195 million to £1.55 billion pounds, compared to £188 million in the same period last year when it was expected to make an operating profit of £129 million pounds according to analysts predictions . Nestle reported a revenue decline of 5.9 percent from last year’s figures to 22 billion Swiss francs, falling short of analysts forecast by CHF 368 million or approximately $416m (at today’s exchange rate).

On another front British mining giant Anglo American disclosed that Australian competitor BHP had made a purchase offer for £31bn ($42bn) for its copper and zinc assets in South America , which is currently under evaluation by Anglo American’s board . If this deal goes through it could mark one of the largest mergers in the mining industry in recent years .