economy
Europe stocks close higher after investors digested slew of earnings reports
European stocks closed marginally higher on Wednesday as investors in the region digested further earnings reports.

TL;DR
- Pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally 0.1% higher.
- U.K.'s FTSE rose nearly 1%, Germany's DAX shed 0.6%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.2%, and Italy's FTSE MIB added 0.6%.
- Markets settled after a brief sell-off in cryptocurrencies and precious metals.
- Santander's shares dropped 3.6% following a $12.2 billion deal for Webster Bank and ahead-of-schedule Q4 earnings release.
- Novo Nordisk's stock fell 4.9% after warning of declining sales and profit growth.
- Several companies including Novartis, GSK, and UBS released earnings reports.
- UBS shares were down 6.3% despite reporting a Q4 net profit increase.
- Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell, tracking Wall Street's decline in tech stocks.
- The S&P 500 fell as investors moved out of tech stocks and a key jobs report showed weaker-than-expected data.