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European Stocks Rise in Thursday Trading; Oil Prices Reverse Course Surge Higher

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European stock markets closed higher Thursday as oil prices reversed course during intraday trading after sharp declines this week and climbed higher.

The Stoxx Europe gained 0.7%, Germany's DAX rose 1%, the FTSE 100 increased 0.7%, France's CAC was up 0.5%, and the Swiss Market Index closed 0.7% higher.

Brent crude climbed 1.6% to $75.02 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.8% to $71.58 a barrel.

In corporate news, Rio Tinto is in talks with Vitol Group about a potential joint venture that could help cut freight and logistics costs, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

It is not clear what the size and range of a potential joint venture would be, but one area being discussed is how Vitol could help Rio with risk management tools for freight, including derivative trading within its freight and logistics operations, the people said.

Rio and Vitol didn't immediately reply to requests for comment from.

Shares of Rio Tinto gained 0.5% in London.

Barclays said Thursday that the projected capital ratios for its US business remained above the regulatory minimum levels across all nine quarters of the Federal Reserve's stress test.

The bank said that its projected common equity tier 1 capital ratio between Q1 of 2026 and 2028 is 9.4%, above the minimum regulatory requirement of 4.5%.

Shares of the British bank rose 2.5% in London.

Nokia said Thursday that it has joined a consortium led by the Finnish Border Guard to develop next-generation counter-drone capabilities for patrol vehicles and maritime units.

The project will focus on building a sovereign, nationwide counter-unmanned aerial systems network, designed to enhance surveillance, threat detection and real-time situational awareness across land and sea operations, it said. Nokia's defense unit will provide secure, high-performance connectivity to link sensors, platforms and command-and-control systems, it added.

Shares of the Finnish telecommunications company declined 0.7% in Helsinki.

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri has collaborated with Bango to launch multi-party subscription packages for its consumers, Bango said Thursday.

The partnership enables the mobile operator to offer bundled packages of international and local streaming services using Bango's platform and allows its users to combine multiple entertainment memberships directly with their mobile data contracts, Bango said.

Shares of Turkcell edged 0.1% higher in Istanbul.

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