Swiss stocks stayed firm right through the day's trading session on Thursday thanks to sustained buying at several counters as investors reacted to earnings updates.

European stocks closed lower on Thursday, as some disappointing earnings updates outweighed optimism about interest rate cuts, rendering the mood a bit cautious.

With a surge in utilities output offset by decreases in mining and manufacturing output, the Federal Reserve released a report on Thursday showing U.S. industrial production came in flat in the month of April. The Fed said industrial production came in unchanged in April after inching up by a downwardly revised 0.1 percent in March.

Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity saw a notable slowdown in the pace of growth in the month of May, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday. The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity tumbled to 4.5 in May from 15.5 in April, although a positive reading still indicates growth.

The European Commission announced that it has opened formal proceedings against Meta Platforms to assess whether the owner of Facebook and Instagram may have breached the Digital Services Act or DSA in areas linked to the protection of minors. On the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Meta shares were losing around 1.1 percent.

On Thursday, the yen strengthened against the US dollar in response to improving Federal Reserve interest rate prospects. The USDJPY pair has declined to 153.88.

US inflation resumes downtrend, retail sales stagnate - Dollar falls as investors add to Fed rate cut bets - Yen gains even as Japanese economy contracts - Wall Street at fresh records, gold rallies on US data

US inflation resumes downtrend, retail sales stagnate - Dollar falls as investors add to Fed rate cut bets - Yen gains even as Japanese economy contracts - Wall Street at fresh records, gold rallies on US data

Expert market comment made by senior analyst Alex Kuptsikevich of the FxPro Analyst Team: Crypto market shakes off consolidation

The euro rose 0.6% against the dollar, while the dollar-yen pair fell by 1% and the gold-dollar pair surged 1.2%. Nike's shares declined by 0.7%. Lower US inflation sparked hopes for an early Fed rate cut, boosting the S&P 500 and NASDAQ. Key economic events today include industrial production and unemployment data from the US, Australia, Japan, Italy, and the Netherlands.