2017.11.1621:30:00UTC+00European Markets Advanced Amid Earnings and Data

European stocks closed higher on Thursday, snapping their longest losing streak since October 2016, as investors priced in the recent corporate earnings and data releases.

The pan-European STOXX 600 climbed 0.78 percent by the market close, with nearly all sectors finishing the trading day in the black.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.19 percent, while France's CAC 40 added 0.66 percent and Germany's DAX advanced 0.55 percent.

Financial services, autos and technology sectors were among the best performers, leading the market higher.

Construction and materials was the top performing sector, climbing 1.95 percent, on the back of earnings news. French company Bouygues advanced 5.17 percent after posting strong sales and profits in the first nine months of the year.

Financial services increased 1.55 percent as a sector.

The Close Brothers Group gained 5.3 percent after it said that it remains well positioned in the current fiscal year as it continued to see strong profitability. 3i Group climbed two percent after it posted a lower return in the first half of its fiscal year but a rise in net asset value per share.

Italian banks Banco BPM and BPER Banca were among the top decliners after Banca Carige failed to secure a cash call, fueling fears around bad loans in the sector.

Shares in energy companies slipped as Europe's oil and gas index notched a one-month low after Reuters reported that Norway's trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund had proposed to drop oil and gas companies from its benchmark index.

GKN plunged to the bottom of the benchmark, dropping 4.76 percent, after it announced a new write-off and new leadership.